


Studies in Mutual Attraction

by winterwolf212



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Cameras, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Smut, Exhibitionism, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Movie Night, Mutual Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:07:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24534307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterwolf212/pseuds/winterwolf212
Summary: Annie doesn't know when it started, when she started to notice Abed.She must have gotten confused. After all, she can't seriously be attracted to Abed, right?Right?
Relationships: Annie Edison/Abed Nadir
Comments: 60
Kudos: 296





	1. Movie Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Started watching Community a few weeks ago. I really liked Troy/Abed but discovered Annie/Abed and fell in love with the pairing. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Annie doesn't know when it happened, the sudden growing attraction to Abed. Maybe it was the Don Draper impression that first got her attention, or maybe it was the Han Solo and Leia kiss under a gushing spray of orange paint. She could still distinctly remember his lips that were soft but firm, the way his tongue mapped the insides of her mouth and an electrifying sensation spread throughout her entire body like she had been struck by lighting. 

He tasted delicious, like chocolate, spices and something that is distinctly Abed. Her toes curled and her knees felt weak, it was only his strong grip on her waist that stopped her from falling on to the orange paint splattered floor. 

Abed's words in the aftermath had hurt. It felt like she had been doused with a bucket of cold water. Annie felt humiliated, both by his statement and how her body just utterly gave itself away at his touch.

Annie had worried about the incident for days, and between bouts of daydreaming and studying, she's drawn to the conclusion that she must have misunderstood. That must have been it, and the tension and frustrations with Jeff just spilled over to Abed. After all she can't seriously be attracted to Abed, right? 

Right?

Annie doesn't know when it started, the staring. A few months after the paintball incident she caught herself looking at his side profile while they watched the new season of Inspector Spacetime. 

Her eyes tracked the TV lights dancing on his sharp cheekbones, across his prominent nose, his large chocolate brown eyes and caramel colored skin. Her perch on the arm of his chair provided her enough chances to stare unabashed without being caught.

She bit her lip when Abed absent-mindedly grabbed a few popcorn from the bowl on her lap to pop in his mouth. Her mind wanders for a moment. Did he really taste like chocolate or was that just a delusion her mind had made up? 

Annie shook herself back to reality and grabs a buttered popcorn. On the seat next to her Troy reaches over to grab a handful of popcorn but paid her no attention, his eyes glued to the screen. Weird how you just obsess over the idea of someone for years and then poof, the feeling is gone.

It had been three hours, the popcorn was gone and the bowl was on the floor. Her position has made her tired, she could get a chair from the dinner table but she's already committed to this bit, and she's stubborn. Plus Abed smelled really nice, like clean soap and spices with a hint of chocolate. So she started leaning more against the back of Abed's chair, propping her arm up to lean her head against her palm. The small move didn't faze Abed at all, he was so focused on the show. 

Annie must have fallen asleep at some point, as she was gently shaken awake by a warm hand on her shoulder. She nuzzled on the warmth she was pressed against. The smell of chocolate and spice slowly lulled her back to sleep.

"Annie." A voice whispered near her ear. Disgruntled she wiggled closer to the warmth. A moment passed and then she was being carried. 

She was gently laid down onto her soft cold bed, the wonderful scent was gone along with the warmth. Her hand reached out and grabbed the end of a sleeve. Another moment passed before a hand grasped hers, a thumb stroked her palm for a few seconds before letting go. A rustling of her bed covers as she was carefully tucked in. 

"Go to sleep Annie. Good night."


	2. Chapter 2: Chocolates and Spices

She loved his scent. Annie was not ashamed to say that, because it had the peculiar side effect of calming her down. Which was extremely important during tests and during their frequent group adventures.

All Annie had to do was stand or sit close enough to Abed, and maybe lean a little bit, to get a whiff of his scent. It would calm her down immediately.

She doesn't know why, maybe because the man himself is unfazed by just about anything life throws at him (except Christmas and Daylight Savings Time) but she finds immense comfort in his presence.

She may or may not have borrowed an old t-shirt, the kind you've had for years and had started to fray at the edges but you never throw away for some odd reason.

She may or may not have kept it in her nightstand, for easy access. And during a particularly stressful exam week, she may or may not have worn it to bed a few times. She gave it back eventually, but only after borrowing a new one. 

Not to say that the other men in the group smelt bad, Jeff has an array of expensive cologne which helps promote his manly devil-may-care persona. She also may or may not have leaned in to get a small whiff as well. It was quite spicy, strong and pervasive as most expensive colognes typically are. 

Pierce is also quite similar to Jeff, just a lot more expensive and a lot more liberal with his application. As if to hide some other smell that she does not even want to contemplate.

Troy was a stereotypical jock in his choices. Axe body spray, the same one since high school, the chocolate one you see advertised on TV. Mainly because Troy believed he'd actually get mobbed by a hoard of women one day.

Annie personally liked it better when Troy had that simple clean soap smell with an underlying hint something manly. It doesn't happen often but when you're living together for a few weeks you get some chances.

Annie hadn't really planned on asking Abed about his cologne, she thought about it once or twice, but living with the man meant she didn't need to go buy one. Just a little borrowed shirt, a small lean here, a stand closer right there and his scent would invade her senses.

She hopes he doesn't notice her sudden need to sit close to him at lunch everyday. 

An opportunity arrised one day while Annie was making breakfast and she couldn't reach the cereal box at the top shelf, Troy had placed a jar of strawberry jam right next to it, a hazard she will have to remedy, and accidentally pushed the cereal box farther away from the edge.

Annie was on her tiptoes reaching blindly and brushing against the box when a figure pressed against her back.

She gasped and momentarily pressed back against the person. The scent of someone newly showered, with an underlying hint of chocolate and spices filled her senses and she relaxed against the warmth. 

The box of wheat thins came into view, she grinned. "Thanks Abed!" She gazed up behind her with a grin. 

"You're welcome." He replied flatly, unmoving and Annie is increasingly aware that he still hasn't backed away. 

Annie turned and got an even stronger blast of his scent. She leaned forward and took a deep breath, her nose brushed against his neck. 

"You smell wonderful Abed, what kind of perfume are you using?" She asked leaning back to look at his face.

His head tilted to the side, his eyebrows furrowed slightly but expression remained the same. Abed looked at her for a few seconds before replying. 

"I don't. But if you're wondering about the soap, it's the same one Troy and I use. Excuse me." He reached up again to grab a box of Lucky Charms.

"Oh." She just said, her face was probably red. His close proximity made her light-headed. Thankfully Abed moved aside to grab two bowls, one Star Wars themed and another with lavender polka dots. 

He handed her the lavender bowl, "Thanks Abed."

She moved to the fridge to grab some milk and heard a small clink. The strawberry jam was on the counter. She smiled.


	3. Introduction to Vignette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vignette of everyday life.

"What's that Abed?" Annie asks when she found him holding something while sitting on their couch.

"It's a Twinkie, I thought these are all extinct but I found a box next to a dumpster this morning." He explained while holding up one perfectly wrapped Twinkie.

"Are you sure you should be eating those? That has a lot of sugar." She points out and takes a seat next to him.

"I've eaten two already, I can't control myself even though these might just be the last Twinkies on earth. I left some for Troy, though we should really be saving these, they should sell pretty high on Amazon." He's speaking a little faster than normal. Annie grows concerned and checks on the box on the table.

"Okay Abed, but I'm sorry to say this but that's not an original Twinkie." 

His head whips towards her. "What do you mean?" 

"The company and the recipe for Twinkies has been bought, it is technically still the same but it's under a different company now. It's not an original Abed, I'm sorry."

Abed stares at the Twinkie in his hands in horror, he starts to do his high pitched screeching whenever something he doesn't understand occurs. 

"Oh no Abed!" She gets to her knees and pulls him to her, laying his head against her chest she cups his cheek softly with one hand. She rubs soothing circles against his cheek with her thumb as her other hand starts petting his hair. She makes soft shushing noises and slowly starts to rock him gently as he continues to wig out. 

By the time he finally starts to calm down she has her cheek against his hair and whispering, "It's going to be okay Abed, it's still the same recipe, it's going to be alright." While softly kneading his arm.

He's been silent for a few minutes now but she doesn't pull away and continues to console him.

"I'm fine now Annie." He finally says.

"On the bright side Abed, at least you can finish this whole box without the guilt that you're depriving the world of something precious." She still has her arms around him, not quite ready to let go of this closeness.

"Yeah." He turns to look at her for a long time and she lets go to sit by his side, Annie starts feeling nervous being the sole focus of his penetrating gaze.

"Twinkie?" He holds out the Twinkie in his hand. "Sure." She relaxes and grins while taking the offered treat.

* * *

"Abed stop talking nonsense about alternate timelines! It doesn't exist and frankly, it's getting annoying." Jeff stomps away, banging a chair aside as he leaves.

"I didn't think mentioning the darkest timeline would upset him so much." Abed said with a tilt of his head and a confused frown on his face. 

"It's not that Abed," Annie grabs his bicep and squeezing lightly for support. "Jeff is just frustrated about something again and he took it out on you."

"Yes and no. Yes because I saw Leonard take the last chicken fingers right in front of Jeff's face. And no because I think the thought that some other Jeff is possibly living a happier life than canon Jeff is making him frustrated." He explains with a finger in the air. 

Annie snorts, slipping her arm around his waist she starts steering him over to the exit doors. 

"Why don't we go get some frozen yogurt." She offers.

"Aren't you busy with the event next week?" He asks letting her drag him along.

"Yeah, but I could use a break, and I want to catch up on alternate timeline Annie. I wonder what she's up to." 

"Well, in the alternate timeline '2', Troy told Abed about the gun he found in Annie's purse--" Annie's eyes widened and shifted her eyes at a passing window to hide the look on her face. "--Abed concluded it must be due to the sketchy neighborhood Annie lives in. He's concerned about her safety so he asks Annie to move in with them." 

"That's nice of timeline '2' Abed to do." She hesitantly says with a smile. 

"It's what any Abed would do once they realized you were living somewhere unsafe Annie." 

Annie looks down with a smile on her face. 

"That and he doesn't want the sitcom genre to change." Abed adds as an afterthought.

"What about the '5' timeline?" She asks.

"Well..."

* * *

"Hi Abed!" She greets him with a smile, closing her locker she leans against it as Abed points a camera to her face.

"What are you doing?" She asks him cheerfully.

"I'm doing a documentary about what's it like to be a student of Greendale." 

"Would you like some help Abed?" She asks as they walk towards the study room. 

He shrugs. "Sure, you'll be perfect. You're a model student and you surround yourself with a group of misfits. Don't overthink it, just do what you usually do and I'll just follow you around all day."

Predictably, the other members, mainly Jeff, mocked Abed's documentary when they asked about the camera shoved in their faces. 

"Greendale is a shitshow, why would you want to make a documentary about the life of a student living in it?"

"I think you just answered your own question Jeff." Abed replied.

Jeff scoffed and rolled his eyes, he looks down at his phone. "Look I don't care, just don't film me and we're fine." 

"Well I think it's exciting!" Annie giggled, hugging Abed from the side. "He's going to be following me Jeff, not you."

"That's going to be boring." Jeff comments.

She lets out her signature Ugh! "What do you mean boring?" 

"Annie, all you do is attend classes, study and do your homework. The only time you're doing something interesting is when you're with us, mainly me, but I digress. Face it Annie, your average day is boring." 

"I have my own adventures too! It's not boring. Let's go Abed." 

...

"So let me get this straight," The Dean said looking very harassed.

"You somehow found a hole on campus that leads to Mrs. Jenning's house across the street--" 

"Escape tunnel." Abed interrupts.

"--and somehow managed to set fire to the storage closet the hole is located in--"

"Faulty electrical wiring." Annie interrupts.

"--almost shoved Leonard to his death--"

"We saved the dog." They both interrupt.

"--Oh well at least the dog is fine, no wait you two are still in trouble for arson!"

The Dean breaths deeply for a moment to calm himself down.

"Let us go or we'll release the video proving that the automatic fire suppression system did not go off in the presence of a fire." Abed pointed at a ceiling sprinkler while Annie raised an eyebrow.

The Dean pursed his lips, "This never happened and you two are going to cover that hole."

"Deal." They all nodded and the duo left the Dean's office hand in hand.

* * *

Annie skips into the study room with a large smile and a groan could be heard. 

"Seriously?!" Jeff exclaims while pointing at her outfit.

"What?" She asks innocently.

"Did they made you do it?" He asks.

Annie shrugs while taking her seat, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Annie adjusts her plaid shirt. Looking across the table she catches Abed's eye, he winks and she smiles. 

"I can't believe you guys kept tabs on what I wear just so you can do this silly prank. Again." Jeff grumbles from his seat wearing an identical plaid shirt.

"What are you talking about Jeff, this is just a coincidence." Troy says while flicking imaginary lint from his plaid shirt.

Operation 'Quadruplets' 2.0 is a success.

* * *

"Do you still think we're like Phoebe and Chandler?" She asks while taking a sip of her soda. It was rare for the two to be the only ones in the study group to be eating in the cafeteria, but everyone else was busy today.

"No. I think we've established that we're above that level of friendship, maybe Jules and Laurie." He replies, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"How about Lily and Marshall?" Annie asked looking shly at the side of the cafeteria. 

"No." Abed eats a french fry.

"Oh." She tried not to sound upset and half-heartedly ate a spoonful of yogurt.

"We haven't reached their level of intimacy yet. But it's a start that we've met at a college, and we could always share a sandwich together if you want." Abed hands her half of his sandwich.

"Abed I don't think what they had was a sandwi-- nevermind, thank you Abed." She really doesn't want to see what a high Abed would do. 

She took a bite of the sandwich and leaned her head against his shoulder as she chews.

"French fry?" He asks, fingers holding a fry to her lips and she accepts.

"Get a room you two!" 

"Shut up Leonard! I know about your embarrassing TV commercial for viagra!" Annie shouts after the retreating figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeff kinda sounds harsh on paper but he always does complain about these things. 
> 
> Enjoy!


	4. Buttered Noodles and Special Drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of comfort and spice

Annie sniffled, grateful that the boys were out today. It would have been embarrassing if they found her crying at the foot of her bed. 

"Annie?" A voice asked from outside her bedroom door accompanying a soft knocking. 

Annie bit her lip, not wanting to make any more noise but a choked sob escaped her. 

The knocking stopped and the doorknob turned. Abed stood at the door, brow furrowed. "What's wrong?" He asked taking a few steps into the room until he's right next to her.

"Where's Troy?" She ignored his question.

"His mom called, his grandmother had a bad fall so now he has to go see her." He looked her over, seeing her red rimmed eyes. 

"He'll be back in two days. Now answer the question, did someone hurt you?" His brows furrowed and his mouth set in a hard line.

"It's stupid. Just a stupid reason." Her voice wavered turning away from him and towards the phone clutched in her hand.

"Any reason that makes you sad isn't stupid Annie."

She sighed. "My mother remarried last week, no one told me and I wasn't invited." 

A beat of silence. Abed walks out the bedroom.

Of course, Abed wouldn't know how to comfort another person. Annie spent a few minutes of quiet sniffling and clutching her phone. Her mother was ashamed of her, Annie knew that, but she didn't expect to be cut off like this. As if she was a stranger to her own family. 

A long time passed by and Annie thought Abed must have fallen asleep, she could feel the stirrings of disappointment at the absence of Abed like a lead balloon in her stomach when she heard a voice.

"I don't know how to help you feel better, I only know how to make myself feel better, so I thought I'd give it a shot." 

Annie turned to look at the doorway, Abed stood with special drink in his hand and a bowl of buttered noodles. 

"I have Crazy, Stupid, Love set up in the blanket fort. I thought of watching Inspector Spacetime Reunion Special but I think Ryan Gosling is a better choice for you."

Annie felt a smile bloom on her face as she stood up, "Aaaww thank you Abed. No one's ever done this for me before."

"I don't believe that. Go get changed, I'll be in the blanket fort." Abed softly closed the door.

Annie eagerly changed into her cotton shorts and camisole, anxious to forget about her mother. She wiped any residual tears and tried to fix her hair.

She looked at herself in the mirror; red rimmed eyes, skin pale from crying, and hair a mess. Her eyes turned downward to her cotton camisole and shorts combo, it was a soft lavender-grey color. Would he like this outfit? She shook her head, no Annie, this is not the time to think about her attraction to Abed.

Wait, attraction? Was she attracted to Abed? Her mind says no but the way she's posing in front of the mirror says otherwise. Annie wonders what is she even doing.

Does he even see her like that? Yes they've gotten closer these last few months and every touch and moment between them is like an electric shock. Abed is probably her closest friend but does he even see her as more than that? 

Looking back at all their interactions, if this was any other boy she would say absolutely yes, he's attracted to her. But this is Abed and he is not just like any other boy.

"Annie are you crying again?" Abed asks from the other side of the wall. 

"No! I'm coming." Annie takes one last look at herself, straightened her posture and tries to give a small smile as she leaves her room.

She moves the sheet 'door' aside and sees the pillows propped up against the bunk bed on the ground. Annie saw Abed standing silently next to the pillows, now in his green set of pajamas with the rocket ships. In the dim lighting of the blanket fort Annie could swear his eyes we're taking her in, from her bare legs to her shoulders and to the shy smile on her face. 

"Ready?" He flourished a hand to the pillows. She beamed and ran up to him.

"As I'll ever be." She threaded her arm through his and the warmth swept through her body as they slowly sat down.

They huddled together, blanket over their legs and pillows propped up behind them. Annie had the bowl of buttered noodles on her lap and special drinks at the side. 

Being so close to Abed in this way was electrifying. She was incredibly aware of every connecting touch of their skin, it burned and she wonders if he felt the same way whenever their hands so much as brushed against each other.

Annie wanted to be closer until there was no space left between them, until she couldn't tell where she started and he ended. The thought scared her just as much as craved for it. 

Trusting her instincts she leaned her head on his shoulder. Abed shifted and she tensed for a moment before he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close against him. 

She melted against him and just breathed in his comforting scent of chocolate and spices. She started eating her noodles with a sudden unexpected spike of hunger.

It didn't take long before the noodles and special drink were gone. Abed put the empty dishes on the side and leaned back against the pillows dragging the blanket up to their shoulders.

Annie didn't expect him to pull her closer to lay on his chest. She went gladly and angled herself towards him, pressing her chest against his side with her arm across his front. She felt hyper-aware of the fabric brushing against her exposed limbs, a thrill ran down her spine at the thought of the thin layers of fabric between them. 

Her fingers started tracing circles on his stomach as his warm hand soothingly stroked her side from underneath the blanket. Every brush sent her nerve endings on fire, her toes curled and she buried herself deeper into his soothing embrace. This must be what they mean when they say utter bliss.

They watched in comfortable silence, only interrupted by the sounds from the TV and the soft hums of contentment from Annie. 

A few hours later the credits rolled and the intimate scene was broken, "This is the part where I'm supposed to ask if you want to talk about it. You would tell me and I give an inspiring speech." His voice was soft and calm against her ear.

Abed tilted his head to look at her, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Annie ponders for a moment, contemplating brushing it off before taking a deep breath. "My mother was always disappointed with me." 

"She wanted me to be the best. She always pushed me to have the highest grades, to join academic clubs, win awards, and I couldn't handle it. From the pressure to succeed, the bullying, and the anxiety just kept mounting. I started taking adderall to cope with the stress. With the pills I would be fine for awhile but then I kept getting more and more unhinged." 

"After my nervous breakdown I checked myself into rehab, and she wanted to ignore the incident ever happened, sweep it under the rug, but I didn't want to. So she's angry that I went to rehab, I must have embarrassed her, and now she doesn't want to acknowledge I exist."

Abed tightened his hold around her and she tries to distract herself from the onslaught of memories by inhaling his comforting scent, grounding her into the present.

She softly scoffs, "I was so unpopular in high school, the crossing guards used to lure me onto incoming traffic. The kids also hated me because I was so annoying and abnoxious. I thought this college was my chance to change, to be more than Little Annie Adderall who had nothing special to her other than her grades, addiction to pills and Troy Barnes. But I guess this goes to show I'm still my mother's disappointment." 

Abed made an inquisitive sound. "You know Annie, when I first met you I thought you were pretty and nice," Annie smiled.

"But then I got to know you and you were abnoxious and stubborn--" Annie looked betrayed.

"--But still pretty and nice. Now it's been two years and I can safely say that you're one of the strongest people I know. You've been dealt with so many setbacks in life and yet you're here, still incredibly kind." 

"Annie. I may not understand how reality works but even I know you're not a disappointment. You're incredible, and you've beaten the odds time and time again. It never occurred to me that you'll be anything less than amazing."

Abed placed his hand on her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. "You're the leading lady in this show." 

Annie's face burned as Abed cupped her cheek. 

"Thank you Abed."

They stated at each other for a long time.

"Do you want to watch The Room?" He asked abruptly.

She blinked, "Sure." Abed carefully extracted himself as he went to load the movie. 

Annie still sat dazed as Abed climbs back on the bed. She thought they would continue watching side by side until he pulls her back against his chest and tucking her under his chin. She smiled and helped him pull the blankets up to her shoulders. She smiles against his neck as she wound her arms around his waist.

Abed's hand found hers underneath the blankets, she felt the electric charge thrum between them. She managed to get through halfway the movie before the combination of Abed's comforting scent, warmth and soft touch had Annie drifting off to sleep.

* * *

It took a moment for Annie to realize where she was and who was underneath her. Sometime at night she had moved almost completely on top of Abed. She could hear his heart beating next to her ear and his hardness against her thigh.

So even someone like Abed gets morning wood, the thought excited her, the air around them felt charged and she bit her lip as a tingling sensation ran down her body. Her fingers trace the patterns on his shirt, rubbing her fingers softly against his chest, she hears him sigh softly and a heat starts pooling down to her navel when she felt him growing harder against her thigh.

She looks up at his face and found him already awake and staring at her. There was an odd look on his face that she can't quite describe. 

His hand comes up to brush her cheek, she leans into it. "Are you feeling better Annie?" He said in a hoarse whisper.

"Yeah."

There was a small beat of silence before she slowly moves to sit up, in doing so her legs settle on his sides and she straddles his hips. Annie doesn't know what she's doing but she's letting her instincts take the lead. 

His morning wood nestled between her thighs as she leaned forward to cup his cheek, softly rubbing his cheek with her thumb. He stares back at her, barely breathing as the tension between them thickened.

"Thank you Abed. I had a lot of fun." She smiled brightly as if there wasn't anything else going on. 

"You're welcome Annie, I don't like seeing you upset." His voice was a tiny bit huskier than normal. His eyes going darker by the second drifted lower to her exposed chest. He looks entranced for a moment staring at the sloping mounds before looking up to her face with a hint of red on his caramel skin. 

The look he gave made her crave for more, she wanted him to look at her that way more often, as a woman, as more than a friend, and she absolutely hungered for it.

"For someone who said that they didn't know how to comfort people, you did a very good job." She leaned back softly against the hard length between her thighs. It felt incredibly warm against her core and she felt herself growing moist. 

Annie could see his eyes darken further and his lips started to twitch as if to say something but swallowed when she ran a hand through her sleep tousled hair and the other clutched the green pajamas on his stomach.

"We- we're going to be late for class." Abed stuttered for the first time and sat up. 

Her breath hitched when his length brushed against her sensitive bundle of nerves.

"I- Uh- I need to go pee." Abed quickly but carefully extracted himself and almost sprinted to the bathroom.

Annie was left finally panting in silence as the tension broke. What was she doing? Did she really do that? Annie felt horrified, did she just take advantage of her best friend? She buries her face on her palms, frustrated with herself.

Is this another 'Annie of it all' moment? Did she delude herself into thinking he was attracted to her? But she swore she felt him hard against her. She groaned quietly into her hands, what the hell is she going to do with herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sana ol


	5. Series of Melancholic Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie feels guilty.

Things have been awkward after the incident in the blanket fort. There was a tension in the air whenever they were together, especially in their apartment. When with the study group it was as if nothing was wrong, but the previous easy companionship between them wasn't there anymore. 

Annie snorted, with everything going on it was a wonder that Troy hasn't caught up yet.

* * *

Annie hummed 'Daybreak' as she poured milk in her bowl before her cereal. Troy and Abed were right, milk first makes a big difference. 

She grabbed her bowl and migrated to the table when she almost ran into a tall figure. 

"Oh!" Annie haphazardly balanced her bowl so that the milk doesn't splash out and managed to place it back on the counter before turning to look at Abed. 

He had his hand out as if to steady her but slowly put it down when she tried to slowly inch around him. 

"I uh, forgot my hair straightener is still plugged in." 

She caught a whiff of his scent when she passed by, evidently he was just out of the shower and she could smell his aftershave. Annie got distracted for a moment when his arm brushed against her.

"I'll just go take it off, wouldn't want the apartment to burn down." She said nervously and almost ran back to her room.

After almost slamming her door shut in her haste to get away she slowly leaned her back against it, she squeezed her eyes shut. 

"Stupid, so stupid, hair straighteners seriously?" She whispered furiously to herself. 

She didn't know how long she holed up but by the time she got out Abed was already gone and her cereal was all mushy.

* * *

Can you have withdrawals from not touching somebody? Because Annie feels like she has it. She didn't know how much she was always in contact with Abed until she suddenly can't and she could feel the empty void where warm comfort used to be.

It bloomed in her mind like a seed growing with every missed interaction. Like when they were both sitting next to each other in the cafeteria, trying to act normal in front of their study group was hard when the person occupying her every free second is right next to her. 

She tried not to look whenever he brushed against her, and tried not to bury her face against his chest when he angled towards her direction. Control yourself Annie.

How can somebody be so warm?! She internally screamed as the length of her thigh pressed against his when Pierce took a seat on their side of the table. 

"French fry?" Abed offered quietly with a fry pinched between his fingers up to her lips.

Instead of eating the fry directly from his fingers like last time, she grabbed it inches from her face and jammed it into her mouth. She almost choked when it hit the back of her throat but she quickly chewed and washed it down a sip of soda. 

Abed looked at her in silent confusion before going back to his lunch, staring at his burger as if it held all the answers.

The next time they ate at the cafeteria she made sure Troy was between them. She didn't have to worry about their closeness so much and talked to Jeff and Shirley.

...

It was really cute and romantic when Andre proposed to Shirley. She awwed at the display and clapped alongside everybody when Shirley said yes. It was all rather exciting but due to the proposal they'd forgotten about the time.

Knowing they were running late the study group left the cafeteria in a hurry while Annie was looking through her bag. When she looked up only Abed remained, he was looking at her while drinking his soda. 

She knew he was waiting for her to finish so they could walk to class together, like they always do. She felt her cheeks warm but knew she can't afford to be alone with him just yet.

Abed was about to say something when she beat him to it, "I've got to go, late for class." Annie practically bolted from the seat.

"Ha ha lover's quarrel?" 

"Shut up Leonard, I know what you did last summer." She heard Abed retort with irritation before she fast-walked out of earshot.

* * *

Annie wondered if this was normal, to develop a fixation with someone's hands. Maybe it was due to the 'withdrawals' but every time she was close enough to notice his elegant fingers she would start to imagine them on her... Touching her, petting her, holding her... 

Which was dangerous because she would start to remember the time in the blanket fort when he stroked her sides, held her face, touched her skin. Focus Annie.

Why was she avoiding him again? Oh right, he doesn't see her that way, it was just another 'Annie of it all' moment and she's a horrible person for taking advantage of one of her closest friends. She recited the words in her head. Someone who clearly has problems with understanding social interactions. 

So she's avoiding him to give herself some time to cool off and control her emotions. Putting some distance between them would be for the best.

Is what she thought... but she had started to fixate on the way his hands would move whenever he spoke. He would go off on random tangents involving plotlines and spin-offs, his eyes would light up and his hands would start to move in an animated way. 

It was utterly distracting and it slowly chipped at her resolve. 

So in order to distract herself from the greatest distraction she went a bit too overzealous when the Dean asked her to be the script supervisor for the Greendale Commercial. Luiz Guzman is in it.

It was rather heartwarming to see Abed in his element, following them all around with his cameras for the documentary. And despite the crazy two weeks of filming the Dean's descent into insanity, his finished Greendale Commercial was rather amazing.

* * *

When Annie gets anxious she cleans. It's something the boys were grateful about. All this tension between her and Abed had given her more reasons to be a little jumpy.

She decided to go wash the dishes while everyone was gone. It was while she's doing the dishes that she found an abandoned bowl of buttered noodles on the counter.

Without giving it much thought she took it, threw the leftover food away and washed the bowl. While loading the dishwasher she heard the soft patter of footsteps out in the hall. 

The boys were home, and now it's time for Annie to disappear into her bedroom. She was putting the gloves away when she felt a presence by the sink. 

She saw Abed staring at the counter with a frown on his face. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she remembered. 

The buttered noodles.

Annie felt panic rising inside her when Abed's gaze flickered to hers. The silent accusation was there and she felt horrible. 

"I- homework!" She quickly moved away from the kitchen and into her bedroom. 

Annie was spending more and more time inside her bedroom these days. She really missed the times where she would watch movies with Troy and Abed.

She just missed Abed in general, she might not be Abed's best friend (that distinction goes to Troy) but he is hers. She sighed into her bedroom. You really don't know how much time you actually spend with someone until you don't. 

She'll find a way to apologize about the noodles next time.

* * *

Annie tried to tamp down her feelings of jealousy when Abed mentioned having a special Saturday night watching The Dark Knight with Troy. 

He hasn't been the most pleasant around her ever since the buttered noodles incident. Evidenced by the way he snatched the Dark Knight DVD from her hands as she read the signed autograph. She tried not to let the hurt show on her face.

"If you see this lying out, I'm still using it, so you don't have to take it to the kitchen, dump it out and wash the bowl." Abed has been working on his sarcasm but she hadn't expected him to use it on her.

"Is this about your buttered noodles?" She tried not to let her voice waver, Abed has never been passive-aggressive to her before. 

"I didn't say that." His eyes told everything.

The sudden shouting over at the foosball table caught their attention and Annie let out a shaky breath as her throat felt unexpectedly tight.

...

_Crunch_

Her eyes widened at The Dark Knight DVD beneath her feet. With trepidation she kneeled down and opened the case. She gasped and felt the blood drain from her face when she saw the DVD in pieces. 

Her vision was blurry as tears started to form, she felt despair fill her being and almost let out a choked sob when she heard soft humming from behind her. She turned and shakily showed the broken DVD to Troy.

She had to try and find a way to fix this. Or else... Or else Abed may never talk to her again. He was already mad at her for the buttered noodles, and knowing how much he loves Batman, he may never forgive her for this.

_"You'll just have to confess."_

She can't. He'll be angry and start to hate her. She can't handle it if Abed hates her, it is very important that he never finds out that she broke it. 

It was with these thoughts that she trashed their apartment.

...

Annie fake weeped against his shoulder. She didn't expect her first embrace after the incident would be due to this. His comforting scent of chocolates steeled her nerves as she sent Troy a threatening look for compliance.

Troy silently sighed and like a good friend went along with the lie.

Abed's hand against her back burned. She missed this contact so much she almost forgot the next step of her plan. She reluctantly pulled back and offered to call the cops.

Annie was rambling about her nana and her blind Count lover when the cop interrupted and said he'll file a report but the chances are slim for the items to resurface, as it almost always never gets found. 

"Oh no, Abed." She rubs his arm in comfort, feeling relieved.

"We'll be in touch." The cop walked away before turning around and pointing at her.

"Say you look familiar." Her eyes widened and her head started to shake when he continued.

"Did I ever pretend to shoot a guy in front of you to teach you about gun safety?" Troy and Abed whipped around to look at her in concern.

Annie looked at the far wall and silently nodded, she could feel Abed's piercing eyes on her. Now he has confirmation that she owns a gun, only Abed from timeline '2' and '1' knows about her owning one.

She sighed in relief when the cop finally walked out of the apartment. Annie thought it was all over until Abed started channeling Batman.

...

Abed stepped into the fire escape and Annie felt concerned for his safety. It was all getting too much, and him possibly hating her forever isn't worth getting him hurt. 

So she confessed to her crimes. 

And Abed... didn't believe her.

His fingers ran down her cheek and she almost forgot how to function. She didn't hear what he said and only came back to reality when he started scaling down the side of the fire escape with a grappling hook.

Her heart was almost jumping out of her chest when Abed slipped down the rope. Her arms are outstretched, ready to jump to his rescue as he clumsily makes his way down.

Annie can't let him go alone, "I'm following him." She said and climbed down their fire escape with Troy trailing behind her. "You were supposed to tone us down." He wailed as he climbed through the window.

...

Annie couldn't believe Rick their landlord had a shoe fetish. Gross. In a moment of quick thinking she planted evidence in the closet. Troy couldn't believe she did that, and she couldn't either.

Everything was getting out of hand and lying to Abed was getting harder and harder to bear, she couldn't take it anymore. 

So she decided to come clean and apologized.

"Apology accepted." He said in his Batman voice, the anxiety that has been with her from the last couple of hours finally fell away and she felt drained but happy.

When Abed came back she gave him a hesitant smile and he smiled back. 

She ducked her head to hide the flush from her cheeks and said "I guess I'll start cleaning the apartment. You guys can go, this is my fault." 

"Nah, we'll help you." Troy said and Abed nodded.

* * *

She didn't understand what Britta and Shirley meant about running straight to awful men. 

Shirley turned to explain, "Sometimes a woman meets a man and she just can't shake him from her system no matter how much she knows better."

Her eyes widened as it dawned on her, and she finally understood what they meant. 

She tried hard not to look across the table at the man she can't quite shake from her system no matter how hard she tries.

...

Annie was helping Jeff with his outfit choices (and not because she was avoiding Abed) when Britta came careening out of nowhere. She begged Annie to stand guard while her ex-boyfriend is in town. 

Annie hesitantly agreed. She was hoping to (not-avoid) Abed in the carnival this weekend while the boys watched Blade, but it seemed like fate has other plans.

After a quick secret call to the boys to prepare for Britta they both went home to apartment 303.

They came just in time to catch the boys watching 'Blade'. Not good. Annie had told them to prepare, not watch the movie with the same name as Britta's ex-boyfriend.

Troy saw them enter and enthusiastically waved them over. "Annie! Britta! Come over here and watch Blade with us, it's amazingly awesome." Not good.

Annie hesitantly picked up a chair. Britta already stationed hers behind Troy, leaving Annie no choice but to put her seat behind Abed. 

Not good at all.

... 

"I'll keep her company inside while you guys go watch Blade with the Dean." There was something wrong with that sentence, and she's pretty sure it ends with an N.

"You sure?" Abed asked, his lips in a thin line.

"Yeah, I have a plan." She gave him a quick smile before taking out Britta's phone. Abed shared a glance with Troy and they went back to watching Blade now with the Dean in tow.

She honestly thought texting 'leave me alone' would work when Britta wouldn't stop texting Blade aka Annie's phone. It only just made it worse and Britta won't stop calling her number.

Annie really doesn't get it but apparently Troy and Abed do. Movie Night has totally derailed as they try to find a way to make Britta lose interest. 

Troy finally asked for her phone and sent Britta a nice message. She didn't think it would work until Britta calmly opened her bedroom and asked about the movie.

Annie felt horrified for her friend, Troy was sad and even Abed looked concerned.

...

She just had to let Britta go, she's a lost cause at this point, nothing can make her stop running after this man. When Abed turned to look at her, she felt herself going the same route and bit her lip in frustration.

Abed saw the look on her face and was about to say something when Jeff barged into the apartment just in time to stop Britta from leaving. Annie stood up in relief and missed the look of annoyance flashing on Abed's face. He turned back to watch the movie alone.

Jeff gave his classic Winger speech and while Annie knew it was meant for Britta, she can't help but use it for her situation.

"--We can't keep going to each other until we learn to go to ourselves. Stop making our hatred of ourselves someone else's job, and just stop hating ourselves." 

Annie nodded to herself. All this time she's been avoiding Abed because she hated herself for what she did in the blanket fort that night. She should forgive herself and stop avoiding him like the plague. 

She has been a really awful friend these last couple of weeks. He probably doesn't even understand why she keeps running away. And if she really liked Abed, she should be better than this.

As they all sat down to watch Blade she sent a small grateful smile to Jeff for helping her realize her mistakes. He returned it with a smile of his own.

Abed glanced over and caught the looks they shared, he turned back to the TV and the hints of happiness on his face slowly start to fade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original draft was very loosely following the canon, I decided to remedy that a little bit and added a bit more behind the scenes mayhem.
> 
> English isn't my first language so I may accidentally use common phrases in the wrong manner.
> 
> I was listening to 'Still With You' by JK as I edited this chapter. Really has that night at the bar vibe.


	6. Dreamatorium Analysis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie hatches a plan.

Everything was still strained between the two of them but Annie is prepared to cross that bridge again. 

It's just that, Abed has gone back to being cold to her and she doesn't know why. She doesn't remember washing any uneaten food or stepped on any more precious DVDs so his behavior confused her.

Unfortunately the be-friends-with-Abed-again plan has to be put in the back burner for a little while, they have a test in biology and there's too much to remember. And while she likes to think about Abed, it shouldn't start to affect her grades. 

It was during their emergency biology cramming sessions that Annie noticed the looks Troy and Britta have been exchanging. It seems the incident with Blade has gotten them closer somehow. 

This gave her an idea.

Annie lets out a smile and caught Abed's eye, he barely stared at her for a second before the Dean appeared at the door for an announcement.

Biology class was cancelled. Annie cheered with the rest of the study group as they let out whoops of joy. Jeff started telling everyone about his plans for the extra free time they acquired.

Perfect! Her mind racing she slowly went around the study table to where Troy and Abed were already planning to make-believe Inspector Spacetime in the Dreamatorium.

She quickly walked up to them and interjected. "Maybe we should go to Senor Kevin's." Annie caught Britta before she manages to slip by.

"Britta, didn't you want to try that new cage-free bean burrito?" 

Britta's eyes lit up and turned to the boys. "The tortillas are made with micro-financed flour." Annie doesn't know what that meant but if it'll convince Britta to go then sure.

"Troy you could drive. You always like that spiral parking ramp." She hoped her enthusiasm would be infectious enough for Troy to get hyped.

"You just keep turning left, but you end up up!" Troy grinned.

Her plan was working. "I can't go to Senor Kevin's." Abed looked at her accusingly. "The manager and I are enemies. He said Die Hard was bad." Annie tried not to let her smile slip away, she knew this already, he told her before.

Abed looked at Troy and repeated, "He said Die Hard was bad."

"I know buddy." Troy agreed and Annie felt like her plan was falling apart.

"Well, how about this." She tried again, "This lunch is already a runaway train, no point in stopping it. Troy, Britta, you go to Senor Kevin's." Britta was alright with this idea and Troy looked like he was considering it.

"Abed promised he'd show me how the Dreamatorium works. Today's the perfect day for it." She used her Disney voice in hopes to convince them, nevermind that Abed promised her this before their blanket fort incident.

Abed started to speak, "But I want to--" 

"Abed, don't you think today's the perfect day for it?" She raised her eyebrows, hoping he'd pick up the hint.

"No." He argued. 

"Abed." 

"Is this a social cue?" He looked angry. She bit her bottom lip, because he'd been avoiding her recently they hadn't had a chance to talk. Now that the tables have turned she knows how he felt when she kept running away.

She was just about to use her secret weapon on him, her Disney face, when the Dean appeared at the door again.

* * *

Troy and Britta decided to go have lunch after Annie used her Disney face on Abed behind their backs. His lips pursed and she could see the muscles on his jaw twitch when he gritted his teeth and nodded.

They went back to the apartment in silence. She hates this distance between them and hates herself for putting it there.

Annie tries to make up for it by enthusiastically finding a Constable Geneva costume. She may have overcompensated with her British accent in the make-believe for her lack of Inspector Spacetime knowledge.

She could tell he was steadily losing his patience with all her mistakes, she inwardly sighed, why does he have to be so cute when he's angry. "Can't we play something I know about, like hospital administration?" 

He silently stared at her for a few seconds, enough to finally clue her in.

"You're mad at me for playing matchmaker with Troy and Britta. You think you're gonna lose Troy." She crossed her arms as she spoke.

"I'm not petty Annie. I'm mad at you because you tampered with the fabric of the group. How do you know Troy and Britta pairing up wouldn't destroy everything?" As if she hadn't thought about the same thing between them.

Annie humphed and only managed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "I've run the scenarios. I examine this stuff from every conceivable angle." He explained in a clipped tone.

"Oh, and you can do that but I can't? You don't have a patent on being a control freak Abed." They both know it's a problem they both have in spades.

"I kinda do..." He shows her his simulation of Troy and Britta's lunch date. When she still didn't believe him he showed her the Dreamatorium's engine and explained how it works. Annie wonders if he would simulate their what-ifs in the Dreamatorium as well. That is, if he even considered the notion. 

If you ask her she thinks Troy and Britta would be cute together. And just like Abed she could see it happening too, although she doesn't know what kind of outcome he concluded, it can't be that bad can it?

She was about to ask what he thinks would happen when her phone rang. She excused herself and answered the call from Troy. 

His worried tone took the wind from her sail and she calmed down. "I'll look after him Troy. I promise." She hung up the phone and wondered. What had Abed concluded when he paired Troy and Britta?

She wants to understand how his mind works, she wants to understand him in general. So she took a moment to simulate what she thinks might happen between Troy and Britta that scares him so much. 

Leaning her back against the wall she closed her eyes and start to imagine...

Troy and Britta get together. 

Troy starts spending more time with Britta, leaving less time to hang out with Abed. 

The study group will still be fine regardless if Troy spends less time with Abed. 

Abed will start spending more time with Annie. Watching TV shows and playing in the Dreamatorium.

Troy will eventually move out with Britta once they start getting serious. 

Britta won't be able to move in to the apartment unless Annie leaves or the Dreamatorium gets taken down, which she won't think would happen. 

So either Annie leaves or Troy will.

If she and Abed do get together, Troy and Britta still won't have a room to sleep in and Annie doubts Britta would enjoy the blanket fort as much as Troy would.

So either of Abed's friends leave or he dismantles the Dreamatorium. He'll have to choose.

But wait. Abed had been fine with spending less time with Troy before, when she and Abed used to be close friends. He didn't mind going on adventures with her or watching movies with her without Troy.

He hadn't minded when Troy left for the week to visit his family. Annie and Abed made a fort with all the furniture and they played Dungeons and Dragons all week. He never once complained about Troy's absence.

Annie almost slapped herself when she realized. Of course. She had been avoiding Abed for weeks now, his simulations would be undoubtedly be more bleak if Troy and Britta get together. 

He'd be alone. 

He'd go back to spending more time in front of the TV instead of people. He probably simulated her living around his antics instead of being a part of it.

He's not concerned about the frabric of the group. He's concerned he'd get left behind. 

Which is ridiculous, we would never leave him behind. 

But he doesn't know that.

She remembered the box at the top of the engine named 'Abed', there has always been a lack of empathy in his judgements. Any person would be sad their friends are moving on, but they would accept it if it meant they were happy. 

Abed's anger this time is purely for selfish reasons. This isn't a show that will go on and on forever like the Simpsons, going season to season unchanged, this is real life and people grow and move on. She wants him to understand that.

She just hopes she's doing the right thing when she replaced the 'Abed' box with 'Other People'.

* * *

Abed looked panicked and started shaking his head. He started whimpering and letting out a high-pitched wail of distress.

She stared in horror as he starts to scream while holding his head. "Abed?!"

He fell to the floor and she ran up to him, falling down to her knees she dragged his head over her lap. She cupped his cheek with a shaky hand and carded her other hand through his hair. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She whispered repeatedly in a panic.

"Abed?" She calls out. "I didn't mean for this to happen I'm sorry." Annie felt the tears starting to form as she continued to pet his hair with shaky hands.

"Come back to me please." Her eyes closed shut and the tears ran down her cheeks when he still didn't respond.

Annie felt warm fingers brush away her tears and she immediately opened her eyes. 

"Abed?" She said in relief.

"Hello Annie." He smirked. "What are we doing on the floor? We're we... doing it?" His eyebrow raised and his voice sounded different. He slowly stood up and offered a hand to help her stand.

"Are you being Jeff?" 

"Well I'm not being a Kardashian." He placed his hands on his hip and struck a typical Jeff pose.

* * *

This is getting ridiculous. Abed is dragging her around in a wild goose chase around 'Greendale Hospital School' trying to find him in the Dreamatorium. 

The constant leering and flirting from Abed as Jeff was starting to creep her out.

"Abed doesn't exist young lady." Said Doctor Shirley.

"He exists if I say so, this is my hospital school."

"Your hospital school, young lady, is a simulation being run through a filter of other people's needs. Abed's been filtered out because nobody needs him." 

Annie shakes her head. "I need him." She hopes the desperation in her voice would reach him somehow. But the simulated study group is too stubborn.

"Jeff, take me to Abed." She pleads.

"And where is that?" He responds sarcastically.

"Enough games, just take me where I wanna go."

"Follow me." They simulated run for a few seconds.

"Here we are." Jeff as Abed stops.

"Where?"

"The last night of school, first year." What? "The night we kissed." WHY? Annie internally screamed, she doesn't want to revisit this embarrassing memory. 

Wait a minute, she took a step back. "Abed wasn't there, so whose memory is this?" 

"Maybe it's yours, maybe the Dreamatorium really works. Or maybe Leonard was watching from the bushes and told Abed about it." 

Annie looks around the empty room with concern. "Knock it off Abed."

"I'm not Abed. You're confused and so was I. But not anymore." All of this really is making her confused.

"Jeff... Abed... Stop! I don't want to do this. I want to talk to Abed." He ignores her and continues to stare back.

She pleads again. "Please read the file." She uses her Disney face and Abed caves in.

"Abed Nadir, psychiatric patient 1373, control freak with no empathy. People bend over backwards to cater to him. Signed, healthcare administrator, Annie Edison." 

"I never said that last part." 

Abed reached forward and cupped her cheek. She momentarily forgot he's acting as Jeff and leans into his palm.

"You've thought of everything Annie. With Abed gone, and Troy and Britta together, there's nothing standing in the way of us."

"Wait, what?" What in the world is Abed talking about.

"Come on. This is your dream. This is why you played matchmaker. This is what's important to you." Jeff as Abed tried to lean in for a kiss and she pushed him away.

"You are not Jeff. Because Jeff cares about Abed and I didn't push Troy and Britta together so that this would happen. I did it because I thought they were cute together, and I wanted to spend time with you Abed." He's unmoved she starts to tear up again.

"I don't want to be here because I hate whoever it is you are." She starts to run away, forgetting where she was and hits a wall face first.

She nurses her head as Abed helps her to her feet. "Where do you wanna go next?" He asks.

"I want to be alone." He's here but he's not here, she can't bear to be with an Abed that isn't Abed. She shouldn't have tried to change him, she didn't have the right to do that and she was stupid for thinking it would work.

She stared at the wall in silence as Abed pressed some buttons on the wall. "Execute simulation, Annie/Annie." 

"There. Now we're alone." She heard Abed as Annie say behind her and she quickly turned around to face him. That has got to be the weirdest thing to happen today.

"Great, so you're me now."

"Why are you blowing our magic moment with Jeff?" What is with Abed and his fixations with Jeff.

She frowns and says, "It's not magic. It's not even real."

"But, we love Jeff." Abed says in a facsimile of her voice.

"No, we don't." Annie doesn't know where Abed thought she was in love with Jeff. Abed as Annie looked at her in silent disbelief. How many times is Annie going to have to say it for him to believe her.

"Look! We're just in love with the idea of being loved. I initially thought if we can teach a guy like Jeff to do it, we'll never be unloved. But I realized that that is not love." She looks over the simulated Annie and into Abed's eyes, hoping her feelings reach wherever he's buried himself into.

"Love is an exciting adventure. Love is a quiet morning eating pancakes together. Love is doing the same thing everyday with that special someone and it always feels new. Love is watching a movie together and hoping it never ends. Love is falling asleep in his arms and never wanting to be anywhere else in the world."

She could see something in his eyes shifting, "But whatever it is you're thinking, that's not true love. True love doesn't have to be running the same scenarios over and over hoping for a different result."

The light in his eyes suddenly dim as simulated Annie nervously replies. "Running scenarios? Careful now. You're starting to sound like Abed."

Annie's eyes widened as she's hit with an idea. "So, I probably shouldn't say things like, Star Wars, Zardoz, Cougar Town. Cool, cool, cool."

Simulated Annie started to panic. "Stop it."

"Pop culture, pop culture. I'm on a TV show."

"You're gonna get in trouble!" 

"Meta, meta."

"It's Abed! I've got an Abed here!" Simulated Annie shouted in alarm. A simulated Chang appeared and took her away. They marched in place for a few seconds before she was shoved into somewhere.

She could see him hunched over sitting against the wall with his back towards her, she hesitantly stepped towards him.

"Abed?" She softly asks.

He looks over at her and responds. "Abed."

"Yeah. I found you by turning into you, how cool is that?" She excitedly skips over right next to him.

"Cool. Cool, cool, cool." He responds quietly before turning away.

"Tell me where we are so I can pretend to see it." 

He tilts his head towards her. "We're inside a locker. It's where I spent a lot of time in Junior High." 

All the excitement drained out of her and she felt a pang in her chest. "You think this is where we'd put you? You know that's absurd right?" We would never do that to Abed, I would never do that.

"Well I'm not stupid, you can see I've increased the square footage. It's a metaphorical locker. It's a place where people like me get put when everyone's finally fed up with us."

"Abed, so maudlin." She slowly approached and gathered her dress together and sat next to him. 

Annie wrapped her arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt him stiffen for a few seconds but slowly relaxed. Her fingers reached for Abed's hands which she assumed was cuffed to the wall going by the awkward manner he held them up.

She slowly massages the palm of his hand before her fingers started tracing the joints and knuckles of his hand. Every stroke sent pleasant sparks through her skin. She mumbled "I hope you're not turning into a vampire."

"I've run the simulations Annie." He turns to her and she could see the sadness there. She doesn't like it.

"I don't get married, I don't invent a billion dollar website that helps people have sex. I don't make it into Sundance, Slamdance or dance pants. Troy invents dance pants in 2019. Don't tell him, he needs to stumble onto it--" 

She threaded their fingers together as he started to ramble halfway. She lifted their joined hands to her face. He stopped rambling as she pressed a tender kiss to the back of his hand.

"Stop that." He said and she stiffens. 

Annie quickly extracted herself from him and stood up. She felt ashamed at her behavior. 

"I'm sorry Abed. I took advantage of your friendship and I'm being inappropriate. I've made you uncomfortable, I swear I'll never do it again." She said as she nervously rubbed her hands together. 

"I meant stop making me feel like you like me. I thought you did before but you started avoiding me. I thought I made a mistake in my calculations. Did I miss something again?" He looked confused and tried to reach for her but was caught by the imaginary shackles. 

"Do you like me or not?" He demanded.

She hesitantly knelt in front of him and held his hand in hers, she took a deep breath and stared into his brown eyes. 

"Abed, I like you." She finally admitted. "I've liked you for a long time, and I don't know if you like me too. I started avoiding you because I felt like I was using our friendship as a reason to touch you." She squeezed her fingers to prove a point.

"Annie, I may be different but I'm not a child. I'm older than you. I know what I'm doing... Half the time." She chuckled softly and then bit her lip.

"Did you run the scenarios after I started avoiding you? Is that why you think I'm in love with Jeff?" He ducked his head and the silence was enough of an answer. 

"Abed, listen, the scenarios you run in here are like great science fiction. They're impressive and detailed and insightful but they're not accurate for crap. Science fiction never has been. Look at 2001, did we have a Space Odyssey?" 

He shook his head and she continued. "No, we got snowboarding in the Olympics and we over-validated Carson Daly."

"That poor guy." He interjected.

"Yeah cry my a river. My point is, your simulations are nothing more than anxieties. You're afraid you don't fit in, you're afraid you'll be alone. Great news, you share that with all of us. So you'll never be alone and you'll always fit in." His fingers threaded through hers again and she held him tight.

"And yes, that's why I meddled with Troy and Britta. I was trying to make life go according to some script."

"I can't. You can't. We both need to get more comfortable winging it. Without the fears of the what ifs and the anxieties to hold us down and stop us from pursuing what we want."

She shyly looked up at him and he had a small smile on his face.

"It would cut down my Dreamatorium time by eighteen hours a week. I could take up yoga." 

She shrugged with a grin and admired his form. "You've got the body type." 

He stared at her for a long time and the air around them felt charged as it prickled against her skin, she suddenly felt hyper-aware that Abed knows she likes him. 

Finally after what felt like a long time he said one word. "Annie." He let go of her hands and opened his arms slightly. 

It was all it took for her to dive into his arms. She buried her face against his shoulder and wound her arms around his neck. Annie swore she heard metal shackles creaking and break as they both fell back on the floor. His arms wrapped around her tightly. 

"I like you too Annie. I missed you."

"I missed you too Abed."

* * *

When they stepped out of the Dreamatorium that day she could see it in his eyes that something has shifted, he looked brighter, more alive. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. 

"Everything is going to be alright." She mumbled into his Inspector Spacetime robe, breathing in his comforting scent. Feeling giddy that she can finally do this again.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today Annie, I had fun." Abed's arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"I don't like seeing you upset Abed." His arms tightened and his nose brushed her hair. 

"I don't like seeing you upset either Annie." She smiled and they stand there, for who knows how long, just enjoying each other's warmth and presence.

"How do you feel about a montage of us getting together?" He suddenly asks against her ear.

"I'd love to see it." She mumbled against his shoulder with a grin.

They pulled apart and Abed gave her a rare large smile. The corners of his lips curled up in a wide smile that crinkled the edges of his eyes and suddenly his whole countenance changed. Annie is struck by how incredibly handsome Abed is when he smiles. 

He should smile like this more often. Just not towards anyone other than herself.

"I'm going to make some buttered noodles, you want some?"

"Cool." She followed him into the kitchen.

"Cool, cool, cool."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter relied heavily on S3E16. I made some changes, with the important one being that phone call with Troy. 
> 
> This Annie didn't say anything bad about Abed over the phone.


	7. Getting Together Montage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Abed work on the montage.

Their relationship since then has both drastically changed and at the same time not really. They spend more time together, hang out even more than before and even have their own special handshake. 

The other members of their study group noticed, but other than a raised eyebrow from Jeff, the rest were very happy that Abed has another close friend. It's not that they didn't want them to know, the getting together montage still isn't done yet and they wanted to keep it a little secret of their own for awhile. 

Annie has never done the sneaking around trope before and she's rather excited. Abed has confessed to have done the trope with a secret agent named Robin, but they broke up due to the long distance and the fact that it wasn't really much of a relationship. 

She was feeling the first stirrings of jealousy until Abed confessed their movie nights consisted of Robin watching the TV through the window from a nondescript van parked outside. Annie felt like it was unfair of her to feel this way when Abed was there through her whole Vauhn/Rich/Jeff phase and called it disproportionately even.

The increased time they have together is mainly thanks to Annie and Abed's predictions coming true. Troy has been spending more time hanging out with Britta than in the apartment once they started dating. Annie isn't complaining, and surprisingly, Abed hasn't voiced his complaints yet either.

Annie considered it might have been because of the getting together montage Abed wanted to make. It included the ups and downs of a relationship in its infancy right up to their announcement. Which apparently included all the cutesy, fluffy parts as well as the sad, angry parts of a relationship. 

It did make her worry when he said that, because being at odds with Abed is frankly a horrible experience.

But ultimately despite the close-up into their intimate lives Annie has been very supportive of the endeavor. She thought it would have the benefit of helping to strengthen their relationship instead of damaging it.

She just hopes she can get used to the camera he's constantly carrying around for the montage. Apparently it won't be the same if it wasn't taken naturally, she kinda agreed with him on that and let it go. 

"There's a camera hidden in the plastic fruit bowl in the kitchen." She mentioned casually while flipping a perfect pancake.

"Mmm. Yes, I placed it there." He said around a mouthful of food. 

She added the pancake to a small stack of already finished ones and walked over to him with her plate. "And why?" Annie casually sat next to him and brushed their legs together underneath the table.

"For moments like these." He leaned over and brushed his lips against her cheek. She felt blood rushing to her face as the place his lips touched burned hot and she felt lightheaded.

He had a smirk on his face as he went back to his breakfast. Her eyes narrowed.

Two can play at that game.

She leaned towards him and pressed her chest against his arm. He stiffened as her fingers lightly trailed over his shoulder, along his neck and to the shell of his ear. 

Annie pressed herself closer until her lips were inches from his ear. "How many cameras are in the blanket fort?" She whispered and his eyes fluttered from the light caress of her breath. 

"Two." He replied with a swallow. 

Annie almost grinned but stopped herself in time, seeing Abed affected by her charms is always a treat.

The air between them slowly charged as her fingers lightly tugged on his earlobe and she asked in a husky tone of voice. "Tell me Abed, how many are in my bedroom?" 

Annie could see him go tense at the question and she smirked. After seeing the first hidden camera she knew he most likely planted more around the apartment. 

"Two." He finally answered, looking vaguely afraid with his eyes wide.

She smiled and pressed a chaste kiss along his wonderful jawline. "Good boy." 

Annie turned back to the pancakes in front of her and started digging in.

"Aren't you mad?" He asked brows furrowed. Abed looks so good in the mornings.

"Not really. You're Abed, I kind of half expected it to happen anyway when you suggested a montage."

His shoulders sagged with relief. "Okay. Do you want me to take them down now?" 

"Leave it. I think it'll be interesting." She smiled as Abed's eyes take on a curious glint.

"Sweet! Pancakes!" Troy stumbles into the kitchen drawn by the tempting smells. 

"I made a plate for you Troy." 

"Thanks Annie, you're the best."

* * *

_Scene 1_

They've never been tactile people, Abed more than Annie, and to say they were both touch-starved would be correct. They didn't exactly get the loving affectionate relationship from their parents, nor did they have any friends that would give them any casual touches until college. 

The last few weeks it has been an exploration of skin against skin, what works and what doesn't. They restarted back to the start, mainly for montage purposes but also for their own enjoyment. Because like she said, love is an adventure.

It was Abed, surprisingly, who first initiated. He started brushing her hair back away from her face while doing homework together, gently placing his hand on her lower back while walking together and their fingers would brush from time to time.

"Maybe you should take a break." He said and crooked a finger under her chin and gently lifted her head. She felt her eyelids flutter shut and slowly inched forward.

"Man this is impossible!" Troy slammed his fists on the table. Troy clutched his head and groaned down at his biology textbook.

Annie and Abed shared amused glances. "Troy why don't we go to the cafeteria and get something to eat. We deserve a break." They gathered their things and Annie looped her arm through Troy's and steered him towards the cafeteria.

Annie looked back and caught Abed taking his camera from Garrett who was hiding behind some bushes.

Abed ran to catch up and grabbed her hand. The small innocent touches were wonderful, especially when it all involved his beautiful fingers. 

He hasn't caught on yet how easily turned on she is by his hands, like putty she has no resistance. Annie dearly hopes he doesn't find out.

* * *

_Scene 2_

They're both control freaks and after a couple of incidents involving Annie cleaning up unfinished dishes and Abed rearranging her stuff to make room for another miniature, they decided to lay out some ground rules. None of which are in writing, Abed felt like they'll be pigeon-hold to a contract and the natural progression of their relationship would be affected. 

And as much as Annie would like to write down the list, she also knew she's bound to break a few and despite being who they are, they decided it would be best to try to be a bit more flexible when it comes to each other, keyword try. 

Like the incident that sparked the discussion for ground rules in the first place.

Annie comes home to a silent apartment, which is a usual occurrence. But she could tell that something was wrong immediately. 

"Troy? Abed?" She calls out. 

_Squeak_

Her eyes narrowed in the direction of the sound. There! Her bedroom. She marched to her door and forced it open.

The sight that met her left her mouth hanging open. "What did you do?!" She demanded at the two guilty parties.

They, along with the rest of her room were covered in sticky honey and feathers. 

"I'M SORRY!" Troy started bawling while Abed remained silent.

"Explain what you were trying to do!" She shouted. The room was a mess, the bedcovers, the floor and even some of the walls had honey and feathers sticking on to it.

"We wanted to film a pillow fight and bought an extra large bag of feathers for authentic effect." Abed explained.

"And the honey?!"

"It's m-my fault okay! I saw the feathers and thought Abed was doing the chicken prank bit and took it with me." 

"Troy poured honey all over me and I wasn't about to take that lying down."

Annie took a deep shaky breath, "I want you both out of my bedroom, I want you two to clean yourself up and when you get back here you guys will help me clean this mess up. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am." 

"Good, now go." The boys trudged out of the bedroom like a bunch of scolded toddlers.

When Abed walked past her she stopped him. "Abed, after this is cleaned up we need to talk."

His eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. He started making a low pitched whine that steadily increased in volume. Troy frantically ran back to the bedroom. 

"Abed what's wrong?!"

"Abed!" She quickly wrapped her arms around him and cupped his face. She swiftly reviewed what she last said and figured out what was wrong.

"It's not that kind of talk Abed!" She squeezed him tightly against her. "Not that kind of talk." She repeated near his ear hoping he'd understand.

He finally calmed down after a moment and the trio stood by the doorway breathless. 

"What was that? What did you do?" Troy demanded.

"I said something and he got triggered." 

"Well whatever that is, don't say those words again." Troy pointed at her with his eyes narrowed and then slowly trudged to the shower.

"Abed. I'm sorry." She carefully extracted herself, her front is absolutely covered by honey.

"It's okay, I misunderstood." He whispered hoarsely and pulled her back into his embrace tucking her under his chin.

"How about this, why don't we lay down some ground rules."

"Like what?"

"Like not destroying my room or make a mess of things in the apartment. This goes for both of us. Unless agreed upon by both parties." 

The first smooth jazz notes of 'Daybreak' could be heard throughout their apartment. Troy must have put it on so he can listen while he showered.

"Then we should rule out saying the typical break up lines. Like 'we need to talk'." 

"And using someone else's stationary materials for their paper mache projects." Her arms slipped around his neck as they slowly swayed to the music.

"I told you we had no choice, we ran out of toilet paper." 

"And I'm telling you you need to ask permission next time." They shifted side to side, slowly turning in circles on the spot.

"We also can't borrow stuff without permission then." She pulled back and he had a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his face.

"How did you find out?" She asked.

"I've been reviewing the footage in your bedroom. I saw you sleeping in my old shirt. I thought I lost it in the pillow war." 

"Abed. You've been watching the footage?" 

"Of course. You didn't want to take them down so I assumed you had something to show me." She blushed and looked away. 

Abed bent over and brushed his nose along her neck up to her ear. "Oh Annie." She gasped at the sensation sending electric shocks down her body. The way he whispered her name had her almost melting.

"We're not done laying out ground rules yet." Abed pulled back and Annie huffed.

"Well I already know I'm not allowed to wash dishes with unfinished food on it." 

He did a finger gun and wink as she rolled her eyes.

"Alright guys I'm done with the shower!" Troy called out.

Abed tilted his head to the door and looked at Annie. He waggled his eyebrows and she snorted, "Just go." She pushed him out of her bedroom while he made hmmming noises.

* * *

_Scene 3_

Abed was adamant to include a lot of clips during their movie nights. "It was where we developed our relationship." He explained.

Annie wanted to argue it started during one of their Greendale adventures. But at the same time she did start to fall for him during their movie nights. It was where their initial skinship had taken off.

But there wasn't much acting involved, he said it didn't matter anyway.

"I enjoy watching TV. It raised me. I'm happy I get to watch with you and Troy. It means a lot to me."

Annie had started leaning her head against his shoulder while watching Inspector Spacetime, then while watching Star Wars, The Dark Knight, any movie or TV show to be honest. 

She enjoyed his presence a lot, she could spend hours sitting beside him. TV wasn't a part of her childhood, her mother didn't allow them to distract her from her studies, so she didn't grow up on the same shows as he did. But the longer she spent with Abed the more she understood why he finds comfort in TV.

She didn't have childhood nostalgia. But she did have memories of their times together that she can look back on. Like when his fingers would wipe away her tears from watching The Notebook for the tenth time. His hands cupping her cheeks, his warmth and touch giving her comfort. 

Abed would pull her against his chest and they'd snuggle on the couch to watch TV, even with Troy watching a show with them she would put her feet on Abed's lap and he'd softly massage her feet through the show with his elegant fingers. 

Yes she didn't have that childhood nostalgia, but she did have the memories they have made now in front of that screen.

"Perfect. We got it." 

"Was my narration okay?" 

"It was awesome."

* * *

_Scene 4_

The ground rules actually worked rather well, they've gotten even more comfortable around each other's space knowing that there are a specific set of rules that doesn't set the other one off. Some people would say what they had done was a simple act of 'communication' but Annie liked the term 'verbal agreement' even more.

Troy was thrilled, he thought it kinda looked like a dance, how they managed to co-habitate with their strong personalities.

Somehow, knowing what can set each other off doesn't stop them from breaking a few rules. Example being Annie occasionally 'borrowing' Abed's old shirts.

Once the secret is out she even got brave enough to walk around the apartment wearing his old shirts. Not very often and usually when the boys were not around but one time he caught her walking out the bathroom, newly showered and still dripping wet with his shirt on. 

He stared at her for a long time until Troy went by, "Hey Annie. Abed we need to go, the store is closing and I want that limited edition Dank Knight comic." 

"Its a limited edition because it's a parody and the studio only printed ten copies." Abed explained and followed behind Troy. He gave her a finger gun and wink just before leaving the apartment.

She chuckled and went inside her room to prepare for class tomorrow.

With both of them having such controlling tendencies, the 'verbal agreement' taught them to be a bit more lenient. They started to loosen up on the tight grip they have on the things around them once they realized change is not as bad as they thought.

"Ok now, jump!" Annie giggled and swung the pillow towards his head. It connected and the pillow exploded in a burst of feathers. 

She tried to jump away but got hit on her side and another burst of feathery explosion followed. She squealled when he grabbed her waist and tipped her over. They bounced off the bed and onto the floor. Pillows and feathers flying everywhere.

The room was filled with feathers and cackling laughter. It's not just Abed learning to be more empathetic. Annie can't control every little detail around her, and that's okay.

* * *

_Scene 5_

It's such a shame that other than their study group, no one else bothered to get to know him, because Abed is wonderful and more human than some of the people who walk the halls of Greendale.

Speaking of which, the Greendale Human Being has been acting out recently and has been running around with a paintball gun shooting the students. The Dean didn't want another paintball war incident so close to the last one and has decided to approach her for help to wrangle him down.

She didn't want to at first, but he promised to greenlight one of the clubs she proposed. With that incentive she equipped herself with her standard gear, loaded up her gun and took off to chase after the Human Being.

"Stop!" Annie cried out to the mascot, firing shots in the thankfully empty hallway. He bobbed and weaved, dodging the bullets and turning the corner.

Annie scowled and ran after him. Turning a few corners she frowned and hid her gun as the hallway slowly filled with students. She jumped to look over the heads and caught a glimpse of the grey figure running into a doorway.

"Excuse me. Excuse me. Get out of the way!" She struggled past the throng of students until she finally reached the doorway. 

Taking out her gun she looked around cautiously before barging in the room paintguns raised. At the first sight of the grey mascot she pulled the trigger, like in slow motion the shots soared through the air and hit the figure dead on.

"Greendale Human Being put down your paintgun, you are not under arrest, you are not to be read your rights, and anything you say will not be used against you. Your punishment for this matter will be given by the Dean."

The mascot shrugged and walked away leaving his weapons on the ground.

A thump echoed in the room and Annie turned her paintgun towards the source of the sound. 

Abed stood near the windows in his Han Solo paintball outfit. He even had the vest she washed and stored in her closet. "You're good kid but don't get cocky." He pointed at her paintguns.

"I thought you said you won't be Han Solo anymore." She approached him with a sashay of her hips.

"I'm afraid I'm needed today doll." 

"I wonder what would that be." She fingered the vest. 

"I haven't seen you all day doll." His hands on her hips pulling her flushed against him.

"Oh and you didn't spend the whole day planning this?" Her hand slipped past his collar stroking his neck.

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

It felt like time stopped when his lips met hers, she felt him washing over her like a wave and her whole body tingled. His taste is addicting, like ambrosia she couldn't get enough.

The whole scene took her back to the start, the moment she considered him not as a friend but as a man who took over her very being.

Annie didn't notice her fingers had slipped under his shirt. She admired the smooth planes of his skin as his tongue continued to dominate her every being. She must have whispered his name because his arms tightened around her.

Annie hadn't paid any attention to the first sprinkling of paint falling against their skin. She didn't mind as it slowly coated her clothing, her hair, the only thing in her mind was his mouth on hers. 

A bitter taste entered her mouth and coated her lips, she should pull back but she never wants to stop. 

It was Abed who finally pulled back. Her eyes remained close and her chest rose and fell as she breathed hard. Her lips felt swollen and she probably looks like a mess but she can't muster up any care at all. 

"Okay guys, cut!" She heard Troy's voice at the side. 

"Guys that was amazing! Annie you did really well." She felt someone hand her a towel and she immediately wiped her face with it. When she finally got enough paint off of her face she looked up at the grinning face of Troy.

"What are you doing here Troy?" She asked.

"Abed wanted help with filming a scene, and I was the one holding the hose spraying paint all over you guys. I asked why I couldn't be Leia but apparently you had dibs."

Her eyes flickered to Abed and he shrugged with a small smirk on his face. "We didn't get footage from last time."

"Last time?"

Oh this man will be the death of her.

_Scene 6_

If you ask Annie what her favorite part of the getting together montage would be, it would have to be the back hugs. Like a hot chocolate on a cold day, or a new episode of Inspector Spacetime, it never fails to make Abed smile.

Annie particularly enjoys surprising Abed with back hugs, wrapping her arms around his waist and nuzzling her face on the muscles of his back, inhaling his scent of clean soap with hints of chocolate as he's fixing breakfast. 

They would spend a few minutes just soaking in each other's warmth. She can never get bored of doing it.

And Abed would always have that special smile on his face, the one she's selfishly hoarding all for herself. She should probably not call it a surprise anymore with how many times she does it, but the look on his face is worth it.

Annie was making chicken and waffles, Troy suggested it and she spent a couple of days researching the recipe until she found the best one.

She had just finished putting the last of the batter on the waffle iron when arms suddenly enveloped her from behind. She gasped in surprise as Abed started humming the first notes of Daybreak against her ear. They slowly started swaying to the beat while Annie waited for the waffle to be ready.

"Oh my God is that chicken and waffles?!" Troy came in with his eyes closed and nose in the air.

Abed chuckles and broke away to make some special drinks to go along with the food.

"Annie this is awesome! Thanks so much."

"No problem Troy."

Yep, backhugs are certainly Annie's favorite.

* * *

_Scene 7_

It's been weeks since they started becoming more tactile with each other and Annie has decided to crank it up a notch. 

Like wearing his shirt with shorts combo in one of their movie nights while Troy is over at Britta's. She borrowed another old one she liked and it is perfect. The shirt is too long and covered the shorts, giving the illusion that she's only wearing his shirt and nothing else. It's another common TV trope that she particularly likes and everyone knows about it. 

Something tells her it's a trope Abed likes as well, going by the look Abed gave her when she entered the blanket fort. Even with how loose the shirt is, her breasts still look amazing. It's an asset she particularly likes to flaunt.

Abed is already sitting in the bottom bunk in his pajamas, buttered popcorn and soda is on the floor, he quirks an eyebrow at her. 

He pointed at the shirt, "I wondered where that went. I thought the blorgons stole it along with a few of my other things."

"Just borrowing, it smells like you." She smiled, her eyes glinting as she slowly approached him like a tiger on a prowl. Crouching low with her hands out in front of her like mock claws.

Abed watches her approach with what others would say is a blank face but she knows him very well. His eyes are warm and the corners of his lips are curled upwards. 

"Aaargh!" She pounced, her fingers finding purchase on his sides. He bursts out into laughter at her tickle attack. 

"No! Get away you animal!" He pleads but she's ruthless. Her thighs firmly gripping his waist as she continues her assault. No where else to go with his back against the wall he bucks upward and like deja vu she feels him between her thighs. Abed grabs hold of her wrists and lifts her arms above her head. 

They're both breathless and panting with smiles on their faces. Abed let's go of her wrists and she allows herself to fall forward with her palms on his chest to cushion the weight. 

She could feel the growing arousal against her center. Annie hums in satisfaction at the knowledge that she made that happen. There is no second guessing on her part when she archs her back, slowly grinding on his erection. 

She hears him exhale. His hand grabs hold of her hip and the other moves to cradle her cheek. Abed lifts her face up to look at him, his eyes are dark with arousal. 

Annie leans closer until their lips are only a hairsbreadth away. She can taste him on her lips, that sweet promise of a kiss. Annie would have laughed if she wasn't frustrated by the thought that there is a surprisingly lack of kissing in their relationship.

Abed closed the distance. His lips are warm, and her lips moved gently across his. His hand from her cheek move up to run through her hair, his nails scrape against her scalp sending shocks throughout her body making her shudder and moan against his lips. 

It wasn't a deep kiss, just a soft caress of lips like a lazy morning. It was comfortable, like a cup of hot chocolate, it just felt right. Annie could spend hours doing this. She cups his face, her thumb tracing circles on his jawline. The previous electrifying tension melted away as they spend the next few minutes making out on the bottom bunk.

Eventually they had to stop but every time Annie moves away she gets drawn back for another round from Abed's hand on her face. Not that she minds, kissing Abed is her new favorite thing. Finally finding the urge to resist she pulls back. 

"What are we watching?" Her hand on his face drops down to caress the junction between his neck and shoulders. Annie is mesmerized by the contrast of her hand against his caramel skin. He inhales sharply when her fingers found a particularly sensitive part of his neck. 

"There's this series I found Firefly. I bought the set a few days ago but thought I should wait and watch it with you." 

"Aaaww thank you Abed." She leans down to run her lips across the sensitive patch of skin on his neck. He gasps when she gives a long hard suck on the sensitive spot on his neck. Leaning back Annie feels satisfied by the reddened mark. 

"You should stop moving around so much, it's getting more and more distracting." He points to their groins.

Annie pouts before twisting around and they both reposition themselves, thankfully the popcorn and soda is unharmed by their tickle fight and still on the floor. 

After grabbing the bowl she finally settled against his chest. Sitting between his legs with a blanket up to her shoulders. He wraps one arm around her waist and beneath the blanket her hand found his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for updating this a few hours later than usual. Changed my sleep schedule yesterday.
> 
> I won't be adding a new chapter tomorrow because my grandmother's getting buried. I will continue to update the day after tomorrow though.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this little montage I cooked up.


	8. Caught You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finds out about Abed having a girlfriend.

Annie had just finished class and wandered into the student lounge looking for Abed. She found Troy alone playing games on his phone at one of the couches, she approached him and asked. "Hey Troy do you know where Abed is?" 

"He's over there." He nodded towards the vending machines.

"Thanks." She smiled and started moving towards the direction when she saw something that made her blood boil. A skank was talking to Abed, twirling her perfectly curled blonde hair and occasionally touching his chest. 

She couldn't tell who it was with her back turned so she turned to Troy. "Who is that?" Annie asked, controlling her voice to not depict the rage brewing up inside her.

"Who? Oh that's Megan." Troy replied after briefly looking up from his phone.

"And why is she flirting with Abed?" She asked again, accusation clear in her tone.

"Pretty sure they went out once, I dunno, Abed said he kissed her." Troy shrugged.

"What!?" Annie took a seat next to Troy and grabbed his arm.

"What do you mean he kissed her?!" She whispered fiercely. He looked contemplative for a moment, "Last year she asked him out. They were together for awhile but broke up."

"How did I not know about this?"

"Abed's pretty private about his social life, and I think you had a problem with her before, can't remember what though."

"She's _that_ Megan? And Abed went out with her?" She fumed silently.

"Yeah... hey Annie I gotta go buy something to drink, I'll be right back." Troy walked off leaving Annie by herself.

"Why is he still talking to her?" She whispered to herself. 

"I'm going to go get him." Annie squared herself, fluffed up her chest and walked up to the talking couple. By the time she reached them Annie had already schooled her facial expression to one of open cheerfulness.

"Hey Abed! I've been looking for you." She saddled up to him, hugging his arm and leaning up to kiss his cheek.

She turned towards Megan with a besotted smile plastered on her face, "And who's this?" She asked.

"Annie, this is Megan. Megan this is my girlfriend Annie." Abed introduced her and she felt herself blush at the title, her smile growing wider.

Megan had a pinched look on her face before it quickly got replaced with a bright smile. "Oh, this is your girlfriend? I didn't know, nice to meet you." 

Annie fluttered her lashes and squeezed Abed's arm tighter against her chest, revealing more cleavage in the process. "Nice to meet you too Megan. I didn't know you and Abed we're friends, he never mentioned you before." 

"Oh really?" Megan raised her eyebrows and looked pointedly at Abed. He just shrugged and said, "You never came up." 

Megan's lips pressed into a line as she tries to keep smiling but failed. "Well Abed I need to go, my class is starting soon." She finally said and a corner of Annie's bubblegum lip glossed lips turned up.

Megan's eyes were shooting daggers at her as she walked away. Annie continued smiling until she was out of eyesight, she quickly turned around to face Abed. He saw her face and let out a small "Oof." 

"Was there another social cue?" He asked with his brows furrowed and a hand pointing downward.

"I know about Robin but you never mentioned her." Annie raised an eyebrow with her hands on her hips.

Abed made a face of understanding, "We only went out for a month before breaking it off." He explained.

"Well why does look like she's still interested."

"She likes being with a man that isn't attracted to just her looks and money... Until she actually dates that person and then it's not enough anymore." 

He tilted his head to the side, "I never developed a romantic attachment to her, we only got together because she asked. I wasn't interested then, and I'm still not interested now." 

She's silently processing this information while he looks at her for a few moments. "Were you... Jealous?" He asked looking curious.

"No I wasn't!" She denies and Abed looked confused.

Annie lets out a sigh and admits, "Yes I was jealous Abed. She's a beautiful girl and you went out with her before." 

"But why? You're already my girlfriend, and she's not. I don't understand." 

Annie grabs hold of his hands and thinks for a second, squeezing softly she asks. "Abed, what did you feel when you thought I was still in love with Jeff?" 

He frowned, "I was angry and annoyed at Jeff for taking you away from me. Which was illogical because we weren't together and I had nothing he would take." 

She smiled slightly and explained, "That's how I felt when I saw you talking to her, jealousy can be illogical and sometimes you can't explain it. But just know that when it comes to you Abed, I feel very possessive." 

"And I feel the same way towards you." He smiles down at her as she answers with a grin.

"Hey guys I'm back. What I miss?" Troy comes bounding up to them with a soda in his hand. 

Annie looks at him and while still holding Abed's hands she shrugged, "Not much."

* * *

"Right! Done. This should be enough to pass for the test on Monday." Jeff closes his textbook with a satisfied thump. Everyone else sighs in relief and tucked their books away with the exception of Annie who was still placing sticky notes to her textbook. 

"Annie, do you have any plans for tonight?" Britta asks.

"Yes actually, I do."

"Ugh, don't tell me it's more studying." Jeff huffs with a roll of his eyes. "You're a college student, act like it! This is your chance to go crazy and party!" 

"Gay man is right, when I was your age I was balls dee-"

"Pierce!" They call out in tandem with disgust. 

"What it's true." Pierce shrugs and sits back down.

"Anyway Annie, as much as I don't agree with their sinful ways, it would be nice for you to go out more, like to a mall or a park for once instead of spending all your time indoors studying. You're not gonna be young forever you know." Shirley inputs in her usual sweet tone.

"Guys really, I'm busy." Annie looks up at them and towards Abed for a split second before looking back down to fix her things.

"I don't believe it." Jeff scoffs. "What do you even do outside of school?"

"Ice-Dean!" The Dean comes through the doors in a banana costume. "I just want inform everybody that we will be having an Ice Cream Extravaganza on Monday courtesy of Dairy's Dees! Or Double D's as they'd like to be called." The Dean leaned forward and in an exagerrated whisper added, "I checked this time, it's a real Ice Cream company."

The Dean lays a hand on Jeff's shoulder, "I hope you guys can come by bright and early to help out with some of the decorations. Your help will be greatly appreciated." 

They all groaned and started to protest while the Dean looks around trying to find ways to distract them. He spots Abed and zeroed in on his neck.

"Oh Abed! I see you've got yourself a girlfriend! Who's the lucky girl? Or a boy," the Dean chuckles to himself, "We don't discriminate in these halls."

The rest of the study group turns to Abed, the decorating complaints temporarily forgotten, and he looks back at everyone in turn, he waggled his eyebrows with a smirk on his face. "Pew."

Annie swallows, shifting her gaze side to side, suddenly feeling very nervous but at the same time secretly pleased.

"You have a girlfriend? And you told the Dean before me?" Troy exclaims with his hands splayed, "Am I even your best friend?!" Troy starts tearing up and biting his lip. 

Annie felt momentarily incredulous at the exclamation and shared a quick befuddled glance with Abed who was equally confused. How could he not know? She suddenly felt guilty at the look of betrayal Troy shot towards Abed.

"Oh! Well, I just assumed with the hickey and all. Hope I didn't create a situation." The Dean pursed his lips and looks apologetically at everyone.

"Well, congratulations Abed and I hope you bring her to the Ice Cream Extravaganza! Toodles! See ya there!" The Dean leaves the study room in a whirlwind of confusion and a banana costume. 

The room remained silent save for the occasional sniffling from Troy. "I thought we we're friends! No secrets remember?" 

"Troy. I haven't had the chance to tell you yet, and to be frank, I didn't plan to. I had assumed you knew since I wasn't exactly hiding it in front of you. After all you've been an integral part in our relationship."

Annie could see Jeff making a face at the last part and mouthed 'What?'.

"Well who's the lucky girl? Have we meet her? Do we know her?" Britta interrupts and Annie hopes her face doesn't give away her nervousness.

"Yes Abed, does she know we're best friends forever?!"

"Yes she does Troy."

"Does she know you're a terrorist?"

"Pierce!"

"It's a legitimate question."

Abed looks around, avoiding their gazes before replying. "I'm not allowed to say who she is without her consent, you've all met her already and you like her Troy. I'm going on a date with her tonight."

Everyone made interested noises and side comments, "Oh that's good..." "Nice..." "That's really sweet..."

Abed tilted his head and added, "We bonded over movies and Inspector Spacetime." 

"Oh great another Abed." Annie feels her cheeks flushing at Jeff's comment, another Abed? Somehow she feels fine being labelled as someone like Abed. Jeff didn't mean it as a compliment, but she'll take it anyway.

"Jeff!" Britta admonishes then turns to Abed with her eyes wide, "Well I think it's great that you're dating Abed, but don't you think you should be going out with someone who's not ashamed of you?" Britta grabs hold of Abed's arm, he looks at her hand blankly. 

"I agree Abed, a nice boy like you needs to be with a god-fearing woman, one who's not ashamed to let people know you're together." 

"Shirley, she's not Christian-" gasp "-and why would you guys jump to the conclusion that she's ashamed of me?" He asks with blank tone that spoke volumes.

The group avoided his eyes, shifting slightly and mumbling, "Well... You see.." Annie felt her anger rising.

"Why doesn't she want us to know who she is?" Jeff broke the tension and the others visibly relaxed.

"We're just not ready to go public yet, but most likely soon. The secret coming out because of a hickey is a good trope, I think she did it on purpose as a surprise for me. The minx." As he said it his eyes flickered over to her for a split second before turning to look at Britta, and Annie felt herself blushing again. 

Okay so she might have done it on purpose, sue her, it's just her control freak personality coming through last night. She has had enough of the secrecy and wanted everyone to know that Abed is unavailable, especially that skank Megan. 

"If she wants I'll ask her to come to the Extravaganza with me." Abed shrugs, "It'll be fun." 

Britta turns to look at Annie, "Are you sure you can't come with us tonight?" 

"Maybe next time Britta. I can't reschedule." Britta sighs and gives up.

"Wasting your youth." Jeff chimes in, "I mean look at Abed, he's doing something with it." Abed does that thing with his eyebrows again and Annie snorts. 

"I hope you have fun on your date tonight Abed." Annie says with a smile and he answers with a grin and a finger gun gesture.

* * *

"You've always wanted to go to Paris, unfortunately that is way over my budget so I hope this italian restaurant can suffice." Abed pulls out her chair for her and she sits down with a smile.

"We're in a Sbarro." Annie giggles, looking beautiful in a gorgeous red dress. 

"It is Italian, TV tropes dictates this would be endearing, for you and to our wallets. I was hoping we can make-believe Paris in the Dreamatorium but we already told everyone that were going to be out. Let me just get our orders."

Abed went to get their food and Annie checked her lipstick. She was a little bit overdressed for the place, mainly because of her dress's eye-catching shade of red, but the Sbarro is almost empty and Abed is also wearing a nice outfit. Going to Greendale taught her it's okay to look silly sometimes.

She waved a little at Garrett who looked even more ridiculous trying to blend into the background with his camera. 

Abed came back with their tray of food, pasta and salad for her and a pizza for him. The moment they got settled they both dug in immediately, she doesn't know about Abed but she was absolutely starving.

"Why didn't you go out with Britta and Jeff tonight?" He asks while taking a bite of his pizza.

"I don't know," She smiled shyly, "I just wanted to spend more time with you I guess." 

"But Annie we live together, and spend most of our evenings together too." He pointed out and took a sip of his soda.

"I guess the thought of going out to drink really didn't appeal to me, you know what happened last time, I'd much rather watch a movie with you." 

"Which we can't tonight because I have a date." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Yes, with your mysterious girlfriend." She teased back. 

He leaned forward and adopted a huskier noir tone of voice"You knew they'd see the hickey, you planted the evidence, perpetrated the reveal. You wanted them to know you own me doll, you're such a minx." Annie blushed and averted her eyes. He continued to look at her in amusement.

"How do you think they'll take it?" Annie asks after swallowing a mouthful of pasta, "When they find out about us that is."

Abed looked thoughtful for a moment, "I've run the simulations in the Dreamatorium, Britta and Shirley will take it relatively well. And Shirley might sermon us on our religious beliefs." 

Annie rolls her eyes at that. "I don't need a relationship for that to happen." She retorted with a huff.

"Troy will wonder how he didn't figure it out sooner, will act betrayed for a while because we didn't tell him but will ultimately accept it." Abed nodded to himself. "We can argue that we never hid the relationship from him in the first place. It's just that he never connected the dots."

"I don't know Abed, we were pretty obvious." 

Abed shrugs, "Troy works in mysterious ways. There are some things that even I don't understand."

Annie leaned over with a napkin and wiped a smudge of tomato sauce on his lip. He bored it with an affectionate look on it face. To some they'd say his face remained the same but to her she can already tell the differences between his micro-expressions. The slight droop of his eyelids, the small twitch of his mouth and the quiet tender stare made her feel warm all over.

After she was done he continued, "Pierce won't care, he'll make a crude joke and get over it. So that only leaves Jeff who has a slight chance of becoming hostile with me like with Rich when you were infatuated with him." 

Abed ponders for a moment and pointed to the side in thought. "There's also the chance he will ask me how I'd done it, how I managed to get you into a relationship. After all he did the same thing with Blade and Britta." Annie nodded with pursed lips.

"But I think he'll come around eventually, we're his friends. His narcissistic tendencies will initially come out until he realizes he doesn't really have romantic feelings for you, he just likes having your attention." Abed looked happy with his assessment and went back to his food.

"Wow Abed you really thought this through. Especially with Jeff, you really considered all your options." 

He looked up at her with a smile, "Of course Annie, they're our friends and our family, I mostly checked if our relationship will upset the fabric of the group, and from what I've seen, not really. Maybe if this was a movie, yes, leading man Jeff would do everything in his power to get with the leading girl, you." He lookes down at the remains of his pizza for a moment before staring deep into her eyes. His chocolate gaze was penetrating.

"But you taught me that the real world works differently and it doesn't always go the way of the script. Which made me love movies even more, they just made sense, it has structure, an ending, but it also made me appreciate the real world a bit better as well. It's full of unexpected plot twists and unprecedented character developments. In the movie I would have never gotten a chance with you Annie. I'd maybe get a fleeting kiss in a best case scenario before you run after the leading man. I'm a side character Annie, and yet here we are, having an unplanned date at Sbarro. With Garrett."

Somewhere along his monologue Annie grabbed his hand and is rubbing her thumb soothingly on his skin. 

"You make me so happy Annie, and I hope I can make you happy too." His chocolate gaze never left her face and Annie felt like she's drowning in him.

"You do Abed, so much, you're the first person I run to when I get upset. The first person that comes to mind when I succeed." His hand moved up to cup her cheek, her eyes flutter closed as she leans into the warmth.

Taking a deep breath she continued, "I enjoyed our adventures together... from watching movies to running simulations in the Dreamatorium. I didn't expect I'd come to like them as much as I do. I don't want to stop doing these things with you."

Her eyes opened and stared deeply into his, "I love the way you smile, I love the way you express yourself, I love the way you act and I love your unending passion for the things you enjoy. You taught me how to be myself Abed, and I'm so grateful to have met you.

"I love you Abed."

His eyes softened and he pressed a sweet tender kiss on her lips.

"I love you too Annie."

* * *

By the time they got home it was dark and Annie was trying hard to keep quiet but she couldn't stop giggling as Abed whispered in her ear his speculations on the Dean's private life. 

"Dalmatians? No way!"

They had decided to walk back home and talked all the way, at some point it got cold and Abed lent her his cardigan.

"No he did not!" She retorted in a fierce whisper followed by a giggle muffled on his chest as they approach their apartment. Her arm lightly slapped the arm around her waist when Abed whispered about the origins of the Dean's furry obsession. 

It was distracting having Abed's voice so close to her ear, and it was making her feel like a schoolgirl with a crush again. 

They stopped outside the apartment door, Annie untangled herself and stepped back. 

"I had a lot of fun today." She bit her lip and shyly looked up at Abed. 

He had his head tilted to the side and brow furrowed with thought. He's probably thinking about movie tropes again, and she's hoping he connects the dots.

"I should kiss you now as the dating formula suggests to determine our sexual compatibilities." Abed slowly stalks towards her as Annie retreats backward until her back hits the wall next to the apartment door. 

"I thought we already established our sexual compatabilities?" She teased, her eyes gazed at him hungrily as he approached her.

Abed braced his arms beside her head, caging her in as her hands laid on his chest. He leaned in just a inch away from her face, his nose touching hers, their breath mixing in the air between them. Annie couldn't help giggling as it reminded her of their Spanish Class.

Abed chuckles and bridged the gap between them. Their lips touched and everything else fell away. Her hands reached up around his neck, tugging him closer. He grabs hold of her hips and lifts her up so easily with a strength that didn't seem obvious with his build. It was such a delicious thought that made Annie warm all over. She easily wrapped her legs around his waist, and she throws her head back with a gasp when he thrusts against her core. 

He runs his nose up along her neck as Annie buries her fingers in his hair. She moaned as he lightly sucks on her bottom lip before tilting her head aside to deepen the kiss, Annie keens softly as Abed plunders her mouth. The taste of chocolate and spices fill her senses as they continued to make out outside their apartment door.

Gasps and moans fill the hallway and Annie lightly sucks on his tongue and Abed groans softly against her mouth. They're both keenly aware that they're out in public where anyone can see them, the thought makes her kiss him a little harder. Making out is too good, more than that, making out with Abed is better than anything Annie has ever done before.

"Are you guys coming in or what?" Troy's voice from beside them asks. They awkwardly spring apart and Annie hurriedly tries to fix her dress and hair. Her make up is a mess and Abed doesn't look much better with the smudged redness around his mouth.

"I was shocked when I heard you two talking in the hall, I was going to go sleep but I really wanted to know who your girlfriend is Abed. I felt betrayed when you both didn't think to tell me this has been going on, and acceptance after listening to you guys making out, for thirty minutes, in the halls! Where the old lady next door could see you! How are we going to get free cookies now that she thinks we're living in sin!"

"No wonder my knees were starting to feel tired, that was thirty minutes?"

"Ok so maybe I exaggerated, twenty minutes tops but it felt like forever!"

Annie finally had enough and interrupted, "Look Troy, were sorry we didn't tell you, it's been building up for months and we hadn't exactly been hiding it from you. We didn't mean to make you feel left out."

"Yes Troy, bro code dictates I should tell you all of our sexual conquests but I found a loophole in that we hadn't performed any overtly sexual acts as of yet so I haven't broken a rule in our bro code."

"Abed! Those acts are supposed to be a secret." 

"But Troy and I promised each other no secrets Annie."

"Then just... don't give out details." Annie conceded.

Abed gestured towards the air. "Oh no I won't, the bro code doesn't allow the sharing of intimate details. We just say we tapped that and move on. I think you're confusing the bro code with the girl code that dictates the sharing of intimate details down to the color of underwear and technique."

Troy shook his head. "Let's just get inside guys, it's late. You too Garrett, go home."

* * *

By the time Annie had gotten ready for bed, Troy and Abed had already retired for the night. But she can't sleep, Annie can't help but think about how the study group is going to react to her relationship with Abed. 

Annie hopes it'll be relatively positive, but just to take her mind off of Monday she spent the next hour reviewing her notes for the exam. 

"Why aren't you asleep?" Abed asks from outside her door. Annie smiles and gets up from her desk to open the door. On the other side stands Abed in his green rocket ship pajama set with two cups of special drink. 

"How'd you know I couldn't sleep?" She asked while taking one of the cups and sitting on her bed. 

"I know you Annie, you overthink things. And also because the apartment walls are thin and I can hear you turning pages from the other side on my bunk bed." He explains sitting next to her and taking a sip from his drink. 

"Really you can hear me flipping pages? Wow." She had a look of surprise before it morphed into concern. "Wait you can hear that much?" She asked with wide eyes. 

Abed gives her a smirk and leans forward to whisper in her ear.

"I've heard you moaning my name for weeks."

"Abed!!" Annie shrieked as she stood up and could feel herself flushing red. 

"I enjoyed it a lot. You wouldn't believe how many times I touched myself to the sounds you make." He said with raised eyebrows and humour in his tone.

"In the bathroom of course." He added as an afterthought.

"Abed!" She couldn't look at him directly, she felt like she was about to combust. 

"Despite what the study group believes, I'm a human male with human needs. And you're an attractive female, definitely in the top most beautiful women on campus and I have feelings for you." He explained plainly.

"It wasn't hard. Or was it?" He winked.

"Why didn't you tell me? I- I could've..." 

"Stopped? It's human nature to find release Annie. Troy would masturbate even when I was in the top bunk. Course I didn't get hard when I heard him but it's still basically the same thing." He took a sip of special drink.

"First off, gross. And second, can we talk about something else?" She huffs before going back to sitting next to Abed. 

"You asked." 

Annie rolled her eyes. "How should we tell them on Monday?"

"We show up holding hands." Abed suggests.

"We do that already."

"Hug?" 

"Just about every day." 

"Arm over your shoulder while you wear my letterman jacket like a jock with a cheerleader girlfriend?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Abed you don't have a letterman jacket. I've also worn your cardigans to school before _and_ you always have your arm over my shoulder." 

"Huh, do we always do that?" He looked up at the ceiling in thought with his brow furrowed.

"We've been increasingly touchy the last couple of months. Look at what you're doing right now." Annie indicates to the arm draped over her shoulder and his other hand being held between hers. She had been unconsciously mapping the lines of his palms.

"Huh," he looks bewildered at his appendages.

"Are you sure they don't know we're dating Annie? Have I missed another social cue? Were they pranking us the other day and I hadn't picked up on it?"

"No Abed, it just means our friends are dumb."

"Oh." He looks down for a moment. "Well I'm out of ideas."

"I think I have one that'll surprise them." She smirks and leans in to whisper her plan.

"Cool. Cool, cool, cool."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone enjoyed this one.
> 
> Yesterday was exhausting oof. 
> 
> Been thinking about other fics I want to write with Annie/Abed or just Abed on adventures in general. We'll see. There isn't enough Annie/Abed out there, might as well go crazy.


	9. Revealing Climax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Smut

"Are you sure?" He whispered against her lips before going back to plundering her mouth as his hands grasp her hips to perch her on the table.

She moves back just enough to mumble "Absolutely." She works to take off his cardigan and her hands slip between the collars of his shirt to run her nails down his neck to his collarbones. 

He groans against her lips and his hands start to unbutton her shirt. She helps him shrug the article of clothing off her body and his fingers work to unclasp the hook on the front of her bra. 

With a snap her breasts are bare to the cold air before his warm hands immediately covered the heaving mounds, massaging and squeezing her breasts with his skilled hands. She gasps and shudders when he starts to tug on her nipples and roll them between his fingers.

By the time she realized what she'd done her hands made quick work to unbutton his pants and tugged them down. She links her heels around his waist behind his back, anchoring herself tightly against him as Abed continued his worship of her breasts and exporation of her mouth.

Her arms reached behind him to slip her hands beneath his shirt, running her nails across the smooth expanse of skin. His shirt rolling up as her hands claw at his shoulder blade, Abed groaned softly against her lips as her fingertips dug into his skin, creating crescent marks on his flesh. 

Overwhelmed by the mounting sensations steadily increasing like waves crashing over her body, her head tilting back as she moans, his lips left hers to run along her neck, leaving a trail of fire as he nips and sucks at the skin. Her back archs and she lets out a long moan when his mouth sucked on a sensitive spot on her neck. 

The front of his boxers start to rub against her panties, she could feel her pussy getting increasingly damp for every rough grind of his clothed dick against her cunt. 

Annie's breath came out in pants as his every thrust brushed against her throbbing clit. She holds on for dear life as he practically fucks her against the table.

_Click_

"What is this?!" A voice calls out.

Lights flood the study room and Annie is momentarily blinded, her gasping breaths felt so loud in the quiet morning.

"What the- Annie?! Abed?!" Jeff yells in disbelief, his eyes jumping back and forth between them.

Abed quickly hides her with his body as she scrambles to clasp her bra. His hands working fast on fixing her skirt.

"What are you screaming about so early in the morning Winger?" Britta asks. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the- What the hell?!" 

Abed pulls up his pants just as Annie got her shirt back on. 

"What are you all doing at the door? What-- What in the Lord's name is happening here! Have you two no shame?!" Shirley shrieked.

"It's exactly what it looks like." Abed says while helping Annie button her shirt back up.

"And what exactly _does_ it look like?" Jeff fumes.

"Hey guys whatsupp?" Troy asks as Abed helps Annie jump down from the table. She inwardly grimaced at the dampness of her underwear. 

"Annie and Abed were having sex on the table!" Britta loudly proclaims.

"Not yet." Abed pipes in, standing in front of Annie to shield her from the group.

"What do you mean not yet?!" Shirley questions with a scary look on her face.

"We're not married yet." Gasps "Nah, I'm just kidding, we got interrupted." 

"Abed!" He shrugs and looks at the far wall.

"How long has this been going on?" Jeff demanded.

"For about twenty minutes, we thought we had more time before you guys arrived." 

"No, not that! This!" Jeff gestured between them, "This thing between you two." 

"Oh that, we started dating a few weeks ago but we've been flirting for months." 

"You and Annie? Flirting? For months?" Jeff asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Right?!" Troy exclaimed with his hands in the air.

"Yeah, flirting, haven't you noticed?" The study group was silent for a few moments, caught in a flashback, while Annie finally got herself calmed down. 

"What's this?" Pierce asked appearing by the door.

"Abed and Annie are dating." Jeff states with a scowl on his face. 

"Haven't they always been dating?" Pierce looks confused. 

"What?" The group turn towards him.

"I thought it was pretty obvious." He shrugged and the others spaced out.

"Cool. Cool, cool, cool." Abed grabs Annie's arm and slowly walking away before they both broke into a run out the other door while the others were still caught in a flashback. 

"And now you know!" He shouts over his shoulder and Annie laughs.

"Come back here!"

* * *

They were both still snickering by the time they reached their apartment. "I can't believe we did that." She giggled.

"I still can't believe that was your idea." He said as he unlocked the door. "In the script we were just supposed to get caught making out. I guess you just couldn't control yourself around me." Abed shrugged nonchalantly.

Annie let out a mocked sound as she hurriedly unbuttons her shirt. "Me? You're the one who started taking off my clothes."

"And you took off my pants." His voice muffled as he tugs his shirt over his head. 

Annie was already opening her bedroom door clad only in her lace lingerie, specifically chosen for today's performance, "Well you were the one practically _fucking_ me on the table." 

He sweeps her up in a princess carry and kicking the door shut. "Did you just say fucking?"

"I can swear too Abed!" She shouts as he drops her onto the bed. 

"Then why did you whisper it?" He says burying his face on her neck, nipping and sucking a fiery line down to her chest. She was about to reply when his mouth finds her nipple through her bra, latching on and biting through the lace, she mewls and bucks against him as his hand comes up to tug at the other nipple. She couldn't think straight other than the sensations she could feel from her breasts, she could feel her nipples hardening to stiff peaks at his non-stop actions. 

"Abed." She moans his name, her one hand clutching his hair while the other laid over his fingers abusing her nipple. 

Heat was pooling into her navel and the ache between her thighs was getting increasingly unbearable. 

She squirms to ease the throbbing, "Please." She gasps not knowing what she was pleading for. "Please Abed." 

He finally let's go of her breasts just enough to unclasp her bra. She whines when he doesn't come back to her breasts and instead goes lower. Licking a line painfully down to her core. 

Annie whimpers as Abed massages her thighs, pressing soft languid kisses on the inside of her thigh. 

His nose runs the length of her sodden lace panties, smelling her arousal through the fabric. His fingers run through the length of her slit, rubbing and encircling her lace covered clit. 

"Please Abed, Please." He tugs the lace aside and burries a finger inside her, she gasped and clawed at her bedsheets as he pumped his hand a few times before he buries his finger deep inside her. Annie gasps and archs her back, her hands reaching up to squeeze her breasts as he continues to finger her cunt.

Her moans echo throughout the room, "More. More please Abed." She pleads and he tugs her lace panties down her legs. Her eyes closed as he grabs hold of her knees and spreads her wide open. No one has ever seen her like this before, all of her. 

"You're beautiful Annie." Her eyes opened to connect with Abed, she could see his chocolate brown eyes are dark with arousal before his head descended. 

Her back arched again as he laps his tongue up and down her pussy, encircling her clit before slowly pressing his mouth down on the sensitive nerves and sucking hard. She bucks against his face as waves of pleasure crash over her. His fingers found their way inside her again and slowly started stretching her open.

"More Abed." She whispers as he adds another finger. Annie rocks against his hand as he starts to quickly thrust his fingers into her. His mouth continues to worship her sex and the pleasure mounts until it peaks.

Her body is taut with tension, her hands tighten in his hair as she reaches her climax. She screams his name as she is tipped over the edge.

She falls back down panting and breathless. He slowly moves up, lips pressing languid kisses on her stomach, breasts and up to catch her lips. It was slow and deep, she moans as she tastes herself on his tongue. She can feel his hot hard length against her thigh as he continues to kiss her lazily. 

Finally, she felt him move and position himself on her entrance. His erection is dripping with precum as he starts rubbing the head along the length of her pussy. The sensations sending electric shocks through her body.

"I'm on the pill." She says panting, and Abed being Abed replies, "I know."

He slowly enters her, inch by merciless inch. Annie's gasp is swallowed by his lips as his tongue maps her mouth. It feels tight, molten hot, and she breaths deeply through her nose as his length continues to stretch her entrance. Her ankles move to hook around his waist and in the process opening her up even more to his hard length.

Finally he stops, fully sheathed inside her they both take a moment to adjust and Annie feels full. "Fuck me Abed." She murmurs with a smile against his lips and he returns it with a grin before slowly moving. 

Abed starts slow, allowing her to adjust to his length. She pressed her nails on his back, anchoring herself as heat gathers on her navel. The pleasure builds as he starts thrusting faster, she gasps and her nails scratch down his back as she nears her second climax. His breathing gets rougher over time and she could hear him chanting her name.

"Annie, Annie, Annie..." 

"Abed." She gasped his name after a particular thrust sends pleasure coursing through her body. She mewls and squirms as he thrusts harder against that spot.

Her teeth clamps down on the junction of his neck and shoulder, biting down to muffle her screams of pleasure as she climaxes alongside him. "Annie!" He gasps with a particularly hard thrust penetrating deeper before he comes with a shout. 

They both collapsed on the bed, breathing harshly and Annie promptly passed out as sleep overtakes her.

* * *

"Annie." A voice whispers to her ear.

"Annie wake up." She frowns before burying deeper into the warmth. 

"We have an exam in the afternoon."

Her eyes flew open before abruptly sitting up. "What time is it?!" She looked around her room. She's still naked and Abed is on his side with his head propped up on his hand. 

He looks disheveled, his hair is a mess and there is a distinctive bite mark on his neck. He's looking at her with such fondness that she almost wanted to skip going to class altogether and go for another round.

"We still have a few hours," He says with a leer. She snorts softly and falls back down into his warmth. Abed tucks her under his chin and they lay there in contentment for a few minutes. 

She slowly props herself up on his chest, dragging a finger down his chest. "I'm feeling sticky, why don't we go take a shower?" She suggested with a sly smile. 

His answering grin says yes.

* * *

"Annie and Abed? Seriously?" Jeff says incredulously as he hangs up streamers.

"For the tenth time, yes." Troy replies tonelessly while arranging the standees, obviously fed up by the continued questions.

"It's just that- It's Annie and Abed." 

"We get it. It's shocking." Britta mockingly says by the ice cream dispenser.

"I don't know about you but I'm more surprised that they ditched us instead of helping us put up these decorations." Shirley said while posting flyers on the walls. 

"See! Annie would never in a million years ditch organizing an event! This is a sign you guys, that they're not meant to be together. He's already a bad influence on her." Jeff tries to reason with them.

"This is also Abed's first time not helping. She could've been the bad influence." Troy points out. 

"Case in point, they're not good for each other." 

"I don't get why you're so concerned Winger, I thought you were gay." Pierce chuckles on his phone. 

"Pierce, you're here but you're not helping. Put up these flyers in the hallway why don't you?" Shirley says and hands him a stack of flyers. Pierce grumbles but walks away with the flyers, "I'm only doing this so I don't have to listen to his whining anymore."

The study group worked in silence for a few seconds before it was once again broken. "But Annie and Abed?" Jeff starts again and everybody groaned.

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

"Note to self, don't shower with Annie unless I have an extra hour to spare." Abed tells himself as he leaves the blanket fort with a new change of clothes and a whole new range of marks on his neck. 

"I didn't see you complaining when I was on my knees in there." Annie retorts from her open bedroom. She applies a coat of bubblegum lip balm on her lips. 

"Oh I'm not complaining, just planning my schedule accordingly. Plus, that was my first time attempting wall sex, it was great but a bit too dangerous. We should only attempt that again when there's no water underneath our feet." 

"Agreed. Want to watch that European 'The Thing' rip-off tomorrow?" Annie asks while packing up her things. 

"Sure, Troy has been dying to see it since we found that set of rip-off horror movies in the clearance isle."

Abed stares off into the distance with a small smile on his face. Probably a flashback to the clearance isle. She waits patiently next to him for his flashback to end. Annie gets a little bit embarrassed at the hickeys on his neck, and the bite mark peeking from the collar of his shirt. 

Some part of her relished in it, letting people know that yes, he is Annie's boyfriend, he's taken. Well, someone's boyfriend anyway. She frowns.

"What are you thinking?" Abed asks.

"If I can put a collar on you." She answers absent-mindedly. When her response registers she snaps up to look at him in horror. "No! That didn't sound right! Forget I ever said anything."

"Filed." He answered while checking the time.

"We still have two hours left, we can still help out with the event, let's go?" He holds out a hand.

"Yep." She laces her fingers through his as they leave the apartment. 

"Are we going to be _that_ couple? The one that's always doing public displays of affection or are we going to be that couple that are more like best friends than lovers, or ooh, are we going to-" Annie lets him ramble, content to just see Abed looking happy and excited.

* * *

"Oh great it's the run away couple." Jeff griped as Annie and Abed walked into the event hand in hand. "You know I can't believe you guys just left us decorating this whole stupid thing..." He trails off after seeing the bruises and marks on Abed's exposed collar. 

Annie looked up and saw Abed giving Jeff a daring smirk, his eyes filled with a challenging glint.

After a few seconds Jeff finally found his voice and continued, "I hope you both know I think this is a bad idea and you're both bad for each other."

_Pause_

"Point blank." Hands on his hips.

_Pause_

"Just laying it out now." He lifts a finger up in the air.

_Pause_

"Total bad influence to each other." Jeff kept adding more reasons while the couple continued to stare blankly at him.

"Okay!" A voice cut Jeff off just as he opened his mouth again. Britta came into view and stood in front of Jeff. 

"I think this is a great and unexpected turn of events." She clapped twice, "But for what it's worth, I'm really happy for you guys. Congratulations on getting together." 

Britta opened her arms and pulled them into an awkward three-way hug.

"What is this? Are you guys having a hug without me?" Troy said to their right. 

"Come here Troy." Annie gestured with her hand and he happily joined in on the small pile. Jeff lifts his hands in exasperation just as they broke apart.

"What's all this?" Shirley asked sweetly. "Please tell me I'm not the only one working on the set-up while everyone else stood around and did nothing." 

"We'll do it." Annie offered, "We skipped out on helping this morning, it's the least we could do."

"You better." Shirley threatened before doing a double take on Abed. 

"Abed who mauled you?!"

"And you guys think I'm the pervert." Jeff mumbled and Annie blushed.

Shirley looked like she was about to start a sermon on premarital sex before Abed quickly spoke up. "I know everyone felt like this happened out of nowhere so I've decided you guys will be the first audience to our getting together montage." 

"Getting together montage?" Jeff asked.

Abed nodded, "Yeah, I shot how we got together and how the relationship developed." 

"And you agreed to that?" Jeff asked Annie skeptically. 

"Yeah, yeah I did." She replied with her nose turned up at Jeff. "Although I didn't know we were going to show it to our friends." She half-whispered to Abed. 

"Don't worry I made two versions." He replied in his normal voice, Britta and Jeff shared a cautiously concerned glance when Annie turned bright red.

"I haven't finished editing the other one yet." Abed winked at her and she turned to an even more impossible shade.

"We can watch it later in the apartment with popcorn." Abed offered.

"Can I just say that I don't know what the hell is going on. And since when were these two together?" Pierce gestured towards them. 

They all shared concerned looks at Pierce before Jeff shook his head and said, "Whatever. We can do that." 

"Don't forget our biology exam guys." Annie piped up and they all groaned. 

Annie caught Abed's eye and she grinned, yep, everything is going to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed it. 
> 
> This is my first straight sex scene written. Can't say I know what that feels like, proud 23 year old virgin here, so I hope I wrote it correctly.
> 
> I also wrote an Annie/Abed at work oneshot yesterday, I'll be posting it later after editing.


	10. Examination of Relationships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group watch the montage.

"The exam was easier than I thought." Britta said as they made their way towards the Ice-Cream Extravaganza. 

"I know! I wish I knew it wasn't going to be so hard. I spent way too much time on the phylums last week." Annie replied. 

"Told you. We could've finished rewatching Cougar Town by now." Abed said beside her. He looked normal but Annie could tell he was disappointed.

"Awww Abed, we can finish season 2 tomorrow and then start on season 3. How about it?" She leaned her head on his chest as they continued to walk.

"Cool. Cool, cool, cool." The hand on her shoulder gave a small squeeze and Abed had a tiny smile on his face. 

"Oh come on are you guys going to seriously start doing that?" Jeff exclaimed, gesturing to Abed's hand on her shoulder and her arm wrapped around his waist.

"What do you mean?" Annie asked.

"Yes Jeff what do you mean?" Britta repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you two seriously going to start doing P.D.A.s?"

"I don't know Jeff, why can't they? Annie is an independent woman and she has every right to her own body and what she does with it!" Britta rebuttled with her hands clenching.

"Even sex in public?" Jeff raised a challenging brow at Britta while the rest of the group looked on.

"Yes! Because they're Americans. They're free to do whatever the hell they want." Britta poked a finger on Jeff's chest, their faces inches apart. They both fume.

"You're such a hypocrite Jeff." Annie intervened, "You don't see us complaining when you two defiled the study room table." The others nodded their heads murmuring. "Yeah." "It's true."

"Well yes but... But... Okay fine." Jeff's shoulders dropped. "But I'm still going to complain about the P.D.A. thing going on." Jeff added, sounding like a protective parent.

Annie merely rolled her eyes with a huff while Abed replied with a pointed look, "To be fair Jeff we've been doing this for months and you never complained before."

"No way you guys haven't been doing this for months we would've--" Jeff abruptly stopped, his face thoughtful while Abed raised an eyebrow.

"Anyway you'll all understand once you've seen the getting together montage later."

"I don't know about you guys but I want me some vanilla ice cream with extra sprinkles." Shirley said and walked quickly to fall in line for the ice cream, the others stared at each other before they quickly followed suit.

"Jeffrey! I'm glad you could make it!" The Dean exclaimed, running over in a Flamenco outfit. "I've hope everyone is having fun." He touched Jeff lightly on the shoulder.

"They better. We decorated all this." 

The Dean rolled his eyes and tsked, "Yeah well, nobody's saying no to free ice cream." He turned and saw the rest of the study group. 

"And what happened to you?" The Dean asked Abed while leaning forward towards Jeff, trying to tempt him with his non-existent cleavage.

"My girlfriend is a firecracker." Abed said and tugged Annie flush against his chest.

The Dean placed his hands on his hips, "Ohh! Well that's exciting, who is it?" 

The study group looked at the Dean with mixed expressions of wonder and concern. Abed merely shrugged and gave a small kiss to Annie's temple before relaxing his hold. 

The Dean tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at the group. "Is nobody going to tell me? Ugh fine. Nobody tells me anything." He walked off in a sour mood.

Britta turned abruptly towards the group. "Ok. What was that?" 

"Yeah you guys were flirting right in front of him and everything." Troy agreed and looked at the couple only to flinch back at the pointed stares they both gave him.

"Alright geez, calm down." Troy patted his chest.

"About time." Leonard said off the side while eating his ice cream on a bench.

"What are you talking about Leonard?" Jeff heaved a deep breath at having to talk to Leonard.

"They've been going at it for ages. I'm fed up with all the touching they do."

"Shut up Leonard." Annie retorted while Abed tilted his head towards them. "He's the only one that noticed right from the start.

"Really?" Jeff asked looking mildly insulted. 

"Noticed what?" Pierce asked while looking at everybody. 

Annie just shook her head and asked Abed what ice cream he wanted to get. 

"I'm hoping they have banana split ice cream, whipped cream and pop rocks."

"The perfect meal." Troy nodded and they do their signature handshake.

* * *

"Abed can you ride with me back to your apartment?" Jeff appeared and grabbed his shoulder. They've already eaten their ice cream and were preparing to go watch the montage in the apartment. 

Abed looked at him for a second and Jeff added. "Alone." 

Abed knew he wanted to talk about the relationship he has with their youngest study group member, in hindsight Abed predicted this would happen so he nodded and went to find Annie. 

She was talking to Britta when he found her. Unbidden a small smile formed on his face at the sight of her.

He's lucky. Very lucky. Like he said to Annie he predicted he'd never marry, and he still holds that thought high over his head. Abed doesn't tell her this. It's not that Abed believes it would actually happen, that they break up somehow, but he acknowledges that there is a chance they could. 

Abed tries not to think about it too much, he feels like he might not make it if they do. He's not strong enough for that.

"Abed! You ready to go?" She beams at him and it takes him a second to process the question. 

"Yes but Jeff wanted to talk with me alone." 

Annie and Britta both frowned at the statement. "You don't have to do that Abed." Britta said and he shrugged, "I know. But I think he's going to do a shovel talk. I didn't think I'd get one before so I'm pretty excited for it." 

Annie still looked concerned. "It'll be fine Annie." He said.

"Alright, but tell me if he does anything funny." Annie conceded and Abed got confused, why would Jeff try to make him laugh during a shovel talk. Abed just nodded anyway and walked back to Jeff's car.

"Let's go?" Jeff asked and slipped inside his car.

Abed sat in the front seat, any man to man talk deserved an equal seating arrangement.

Jeff started the car and they both stared at the road for a few minutes. Abed was just waiting for Jeff to speak.

"How long have you been attracted to Annie?" Jeff finally breaks the silence.

"From the first day, she's definitely part of the top most beautiful women on campus Jeff."

"Not like that but..." Jeff tried to find the right words. "... considered her as someone you wanted, romantically."

Abed pondered for a few moments, "I don't know." 

Jeff gives him a glance before turning his eyes back on the road. Abed looked down with his brows furrowed. "It just happened. One day Annie just became... More." 

"And when did that day happen?" Jeff asked.

"Sometime after we kissed during paintball." 

Jeff abruptly stepped on his breaks and Abed felt the force throwing him forward, his breath left him and only the seatbelt preventing him from a head on collision with the windshield. 

"You kissed during paintball?!" Jeff bellowed in shock. "Which one?!" 

Abed stretched his neck to work out the kinks before replying, "The second one, against City College." 

"How!" 

"I was Han Solo and she was Leia." 

Jeff shook his head in disbelief. "So, you two kissed while you were playing a character?"

"Pretty much yeah." 

"And then after that you started viewing her as someone you'd be romantically involved?" Jeff asked with his forehead furrowed.

"No. I cut off any feelings that might've developed from both ends right from the start. Annie, on the other hand, started getting closer to me and we developed our friendship afterwards." Abed explained and looked over at Jeff, "You'll see in the montage."

Jeff contemplated for a few seconds before slowly easing his car to move again. They sat in silence as they reached the apartment. 

When the car stopped Abed started to unclasp his seatbelt. "Abed." Jeff said and he paused, Abed let the seatbelt zip into place and sat back to look at Jeff.

Jeff looked at his eyes searchingly, "You're really serious about her, aren't you?" He asked in a quiet tone.

Abed didn't hesitate to reply, "I do, very much." He looked out the windshield. "We went through some stuff on our own. And I... I don't think I'll make it if I lose her." Abed looked down before looking back at Jeff, his face serious. 

Jeff let out a deep sigh and ran a hand down his face, "I care about you. Both of you. And I don't want either of you to get hurt." 

Abed smiled and clasped Jeff's shoulder, "We will but we'll handle it. Thanks Jeff, you're very important to the both of us."

"Now let's go see a montage." Abed grinned and Jeff mirrored with his own as they both stumbled out of the car and into the apartment building.

* * *

Abed found Annie pacing outside the hall nervously. She was worrying her lip until she caught sight of them, she visibly relaxed in relief and happily skipped towards him. 

He opened his arms and she melted into his embrace. Her sweet scent of vanilla and marshmallows waffed over him as he buried his face in her hair.

"There you guys are. You two were taking a long time we--" 

_Bzzz_

"--we ordered pizza. Let me go get it." She giggled and slipped past him to retrieve the pizza.

Abed smiled at her retreating form before ushering Jeff into the apartment. The study group were around the dining table speaking in low tones. 

"Jeff!" Britta exclaimed. "Oh you guys were sure taking your sweet time to get here."

"Yeah well we had a lot to talk about." 

Abed slipped into the blanket fort and silently changed into his favorite set of green pyjamas and then went to work into setting up the TV. Troy was already done preparing the popcorn and started setting up the dining chairs around the TV to fit seven people.

"Pizza!" Annie shouted by the door and they all cheered. 

"Alright let's watch this bad boy." Abed murmured to himself and sat in his favorite chair. Annie placed the pizza on the coffee table and they all reached for a slice. 

Annie perched on the arm of his chair with a pizza in one hand. She sat to his right so that the others would have a better view of the TV. Her arm slipped around his shoulder and he relaxed against her hold. 

"I can't wait to see it." Annie said with excitement and guided her pizza to his lips and he took a bite. 

They both sat in comfortable silence sharing the slice between them as the others settled into their chairs. Abed looked around and his chest felt warm at the sight of all of the study group members sitting down to watch on of his works. 

"Ready?" He asked and they murmured in agreement as he unpaused the video.

* * *

_I don't know when it started, the growing attraction to Abed._

The narration starts with Annie's voice. The scene showed a clip of Annie looking at Abed from across the study room table. Her blushing cheek on her palm, and she was trying but failing to keep her lips from smiling fondly at him. Abed wasn't doing anything in the scene, they were all listening to Pierce monologue about his summer in Bora Bora.

Abed started with this clip because it wasn't from their montage shoots, this was from one of his older projects, even before their fateful paintball incident. He remembered coming across this clip for the first time and getting confused. Abed knew what that look meant but he didn't want to believe it could be real. 

So he dismissed it.

But for some reason he kept going back to that clip, over and over again, he'd watch her eyes go soft and her lips pull back in a smile while watching _him_. Abed. 

This was when he started to notice her. 

_Maybe it was the Don Draper impression that first got my attention?_

Scene turned to a reenactment of the Don Draper incident. The naked want on Annie's face was clear as day. He slowed down the clip of their face inching together so that he'd have more seconds before he had to pull away. The pure disappointment on her face was real. 

She had practically jumped him after the scene ended and they made out on the cold classroom floor. Not included in this version of the montage.

_Or maybe it was the Han Solo and Leia kiss under a gushing spray of orange paint._

Scene changed to the reenactment of their first kiss. Their second kiss was exactly how he'd imagine it to be, sans the paint, but with all the pent-up emotions gushing forth it was magical. Like Annie, Abed didn't want the kiss to ever end, but the bitter taste of the paint was starting to bother him. 

_I could still remember his lips that were both soft but firm, the way his tongue mapped the insides of my mouth and the electrifying sensation spreading through my entire body like I've been struck by lighting._

"Okay. Did you really need to narrate all that?" Shirley said from somewhere behind them. 

"Well Shirley, I didn't know we were going to show this to you guys." Annie replied and after many months spent studying sarcasm Abed could tell she was being sarcastic.

Abed grabbed Annie's hand, the next couple of scenes will be his voice over. He wondered if she'll react like he predicted she would. Abed's eyes traced the way the orange paint dripped down her face.

 _I did it on purpose._

Annie tensed next to him as on screen Abed pulled away.

_I wanted to be Han Solo for many reasons. One of which was to experience the rogue bad boy archetype._

The Abed on screen smirked and wiped away the paint on her cheek.

_I also wanted a reason to tease her again like Don Draper. To pursue her like I've always wanted to._

Annie gasped and her hand tightened against his.

_Maybe right from the start I've always liked her. But I knew someone like me will never get to have her._

"Oh." Abed heard Annie and Shirley making a sad noise at the voice over. Cue scenes of Annie talking with Troy, walking with Jeff, and unsteady shots of Annie with Vauhn.

_When Annie tried to continue the moment in paintball, I had to stop it, for my own sake more than hers, or else things will change and I wouldn't be able to walk away._

_But something did change... I asked her to move in with us._

Video taken from Twitter documenting Annie's move into their apartment, their antics in her old apartment and subsequent redecorating of Troy and Abed's room into Annie's room as they moved into the blanket fort.

_Something is different with Annie. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the way she acted towards me had changed._

Scenes of Annie finding reasons to sit next to Abed in the cafeteria, in class, or in their apartment. She would lean over his personal space many times over the course of a single day. 

_I liked it. I didn't grow up with much human interaction, and I craved these moments more and more._

On screen Annie cries over The Notebook and Abed brushing her tears away. Annie falling asleep while watching movies with Abed, he lifts her up in his arms and putting her to bed. It happens again and again. A few scenes show them both falling asleep wrapped around each other in the blanket fort.

_I was addicted to his smell. It calmed me, gave me comfort. I started looking for it whenever I'm upset._

"Huh. So it really has been going on for months." Britta said from behind Troy. 

"Told you." Abed replied with a brief look.

_I started to notice my shirts going missing. I thought the landlord was stealing it._

On screen Annie skuttled into her room holding an old graphic tee. She clutches it against her chest and up to her face.

"Not gonna lie that's kinda creepy Annie." Troy commented and Annie busied herself with another slice of pizza to hide her blush.

Scenes of Annie wearing Abed's shirt to bed and even around the apartment when no one was around.

_In the months she was with us, we'd become closer._

On the screen Troy, Annie and Abed act out scenes from Inspector Spacetime inside the Dreamatorium. 

"That's what you guys do in there?" Jeff asked in disbelief but they ignored it. The Dreamatorium is an important place for the three of them.

They take turns making meals in the tiny kitchen like a choreographed dance squeezing in and around each other to get the things they needed.

The three staying up well into the night and into the next morning watching Lord of The Rings. Doing homework together and even playing Dungeons and Dragons with Neil. 

_I may not have the same nostalgia, but I will always cherish the memories we made in front of the screen_

Abed could hear Troy sniffling as he burst into tears. Abed turned and caught Britta giving Troy a hug as he cries into his hand.

Jeff had a peculiar look on his face. No one else knows other than the people who live in apartment 303 how much Annie has integrated herself into their small world of TV and make-believe.

On screen snippets from his documentary project about an average student in Greendale played. 

"Oh my God it's on fire." Britta said with her mouth hanging open at the storage closet engulfed in flames. 

"Faulty wiring." Annie said, grabbing a handful of popcorn as the duo on screen find ways to extinguish the flames. 

"There's an escape tunnel?!" Troy exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

Abed smiled as scenes of them unconsciously feeding each other appear, Annie holds a popcorn to his mouth and he accepts just as the Abed on screen feeds a tired Annie a piece of french fry in the cafeteria. 

_It hasn't all been well._

A few of the scenes involved the study group and they remained oblivious as Annie takes care of a nearly catatonic Abed when he found out there were reshoots in Cougar Town. 

Annie dragging him away and whispering comforting words as she slowly rocks him back to reality. 

The scenes shifting through clips of Annie cupping his face, petting his hair, rocking him against her chest appear, sometimes with Troy alongside them and sometimes without. They're all for a multitude of different reasons and Abed almost couldn't get through editing the parts without Annie's help. Daylight Savings still giving him the chills when he thinks about it.

On screen Annie bursting into tears after her brother called to cancel their date, Abed pulling her on to his lap as she hiccups through her heavy sobs.

Annie and Abed ignoring each other after he accidentally destroys her diorama, then the subsequent montage of them spending the whole night making a new one.

Then a reenactment of the Dreamatorium incident. 

"What the hell..." Jeff pointed at the screen, "Why am I in the middle of this?"

_I thought she was in love with Jeff, but apparently not._

The group watched in disbelief as Annie explained she wasn't in love with Jeff, just the thought of being loved, and they made a face of understanding once Annie laid out what love meant to her. 

"Knowing Abed he probably didn't pick up on the nuances." Britta dryly said to Jeff who nodded in solemn agreement.

Pierce was starting to snore, he had fallen asleep somewhere at the beginning and no one bothered to wake him up.

Annie tightened her arms around him when on screen Abed finally confessed to liking her. "Love you." She whispered against his ear and he smiled.

_We weren't always the best roommates._

The group watched Troy and Abed destroying her room trying to film a pillow fight, Annie cleaning up unfinished food and accidentally breaking his things. Abed rearranging her stuff and arguing over what to eat for dinner.

"You guys went through a lot of stuff in this apartment huh?" Jeff asked.

"In all likelihood we probably wouldn't have gotten together if Annie didn't move in." Abed replied.

_Change is pretty scary, but Annie taught me it wasn't as bad as I thought._

The trio successfully pull off the pillow fight scene sans the honey, the bedroom is absolutely covered in feathers but the trio cackled loudly as they fell off the bed and onto the floor. 

Abed putting away his unfinished food in a container for later instead of leaving it out on the counter. 

Annie and Abed agreeing to a schedule for buttered noodle nights and Abed putting things back to order after he's done with his projects.

"Wow. You guys have a better and healthier relationship than I do with the last ten guys I've dated." Britta said with her eyebrows raised. 

"I agree Brit-ta. I wasn't so sure at first but I think this relationship is doing you both wonders." Shirley added as on screen Abed tried to kiss Annie in public but got interrupted by Troy.

"Troy you've been there for almost all of this. How come you didn't know they were together?" Jeff asked waving his hand at the TV.

"It's true. We stopped hiding it from Troy earlier on and thought we had his approval when he didn't say anything." Abed said.

Abed and Annie were holding hands as they walked the halls. Fondly feeding each other food in the cafeteria and Annie even started wearing his cardigans to school.

"Why are you guys pointing at me when they do that at school?!" Troy gestured towards the screen as Annie side-hugged Abed in front of Jeff. 

Then scenes of Britta talking to Annie who had Abed's arm around her shoulder. Pierce asking the duo directions to the cafeteria for the fifth time while they held hands.

Shirley passing by the couple having a picnic against a tree on the campus grounds. Annie was doing the required reading for biology while sitting between Abed's legs. He had his chin resting on her shoulder with his arms around her waist as he studied the textbook alongside her.

They've started doing outdoor study sessions a few months ago and it was surprisingly doing wonders for their grades.

Britta started to mumble, "I guess... I guess we were too caught up in our own lives that we hadn't noticed something so obvious right in front of us."

The group watched as the two had a date in Sbarro.

_"In the movie I would have never gotten a chance with you Annie. I'd maybe get a fleeting kiss in a best case scenario before you run after the leading man. I'm a side character Annie, and yet here we are."_

_"You make me so happy Annie, and I hope I can make you happy too."_

"Aww." Someone let out as a sigh and Troy started sniffling again.

_"You do Abed, so much, you're the first person I run to when I get upset. The first person that comes to mind when I succeed."_

Abed dragged Annie closer until she was sprawled on his lap, moving her against his chest as his favorite part in the montage played.

_"I love the way you smile, I love the way you express yourself, I love the way you act and I love your unending passion for the things you enjoy. You taught me how to be myself Abed, and I'm so grateful to have met you."_

_"I love you Abed."_

_"I love you too Annie."_

The credits rolled and everyone was silent save for a few runny noses. 

Abed turned to the group, "I have another unfinished version but that one is for our eyes only and none of you will ever see that one. Ever." 

Troy had a confused look on his face but Britta quickly shook her head when he started to speak.

"Well. I'm happy for you guys." Jeff gave a smile. "I wasn't so sure at first but now I see you both have this figured out already." 

He paused and looked at everyone. "And, I realize we haven't been good friends to you both. Friends aren't supposed to be blind to whatever is happening. We should've seen this right from the start, and we didn't. Like Britta said we have been too caught up in ourselves to notice what's happening right in front of us."

"Yeah. I'm happy we even got to see this montage, I can't believe I missed it." Troy agreed with a put-upon look on his face. 

"It's okay Troy." Abed said and raised his hands for their signature best friend handshake.

* * *

By the time the group left it was already nearing midnight. They woke up Pierce and Troy retired to the blanket fort.

Annie invited Abed to stay with her for the night in her bedroom, he waggled his eyebrows and she laughed.

"I'm glad they're all okay with us together." Annie said while changing into her night clothes. 

"I predicted they would be. We're their friends." Abed said while reclined against the pillows and enjoying the view.

"I guess I wasn't sure how they would accept us." Annie smiled as she slipped into her bed and into his open arms. Nuzzling into his shoulder she asked, "Did we water the yams today?" 

He buried his face into her hair and shrugged, "I don't know." 

She yawned, "We'll check tomorrow if it bloomed." Annie didn't hear his response but could hear his steady breathing, she smiled and slowly drifted off to sleep. 

Abed blinked his eyes open. Staring down at her he still couldn't believe they got together, even with the montage it felt like a dream. 

He pressed his lips on the crown of her hair before relaxing back. "I love you Annie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its finally concluded! 
> 
> Honestly I wasn't so sure if I was going to include the Chang Dynasty and the Expulsion, but I decided to put it in Part 2 if I do decide to make a sequel. 
> 
> I'm actually supposed to be studying but I've spent half my time writing instead of studying so I'm cutting back on the writing and getting back on track.
> 
> I'm particularly drawn to Abed. I see a lot of myself in him. I have an INTJ personality type so I guess you could say they have similarities with Abed's character. I don't know. 
> 
> Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed the ride with me, see you in the next fic!
> 
> Happy 7th Festa to Bangtan!

**Author's Note:**

> Will be posting daily updates! 
> 
> The story itself is already done, only needs a few more editing until I'm satisfied.
> 
> I wrote this because I read through all Annie/Abed fics in AO3 and Fanfiction, I'm still hungry for more so I just wrote all the tropes I want to read.


End file.
